The Week After Everything 

The title 'The Week After Everything' seemed quite fitting for the last seven days. After sixteen weeks of marathon training culminated in the Berlin Marathon, which was then followed by consecutive half marathon races at the Lincoln Half Marathon and the Royal Parks Half Marathon, this week had a back to reality feeling about it. 

MONDAY: after the Royal Parks Half Marathon on Sunday I was sore (again!) today, and unsurprisingly after they had caused me such discomfort during the race, it was my quads which were giving me most grief. It was however a level of soreness I felt I could work through and thus I went to the gym in the evening for Body Pump and Spinning. I felt tired during the classes, but I can honestly say my body did feel better for doing something.

TUESDAY: my body's soreness had eased today but was not completing gone, so I opted for a steady cross training session at the gym and then lots of foam rolling.

WEDNESDAY: with my legs feeling almost back to normal my trainers beckoned. I ran a pleasant five mile loop, which I tried to run to feel rather than worrying about a time. Naturally I ran around 8.30 min/mile pace, which felt comfortable enough not to stress my legs too much, but still a good workout. Body Pump class after.

THURSDAY: after a break of 4-5 months (I have actually lost count!) I returned to Body Attack - a plyometric, aerobic type Les Mills branded exercise class. I stop doing the class during marathon training as it is hard to fit in and is also quite intense so generally leaves you very sore! With this in mind I was expecting my return to hurt. However, I was pleasantly surprised with how well I got back into the class, my marathon fitness clearing serving me well. 

FRIDAY: Rest Day - I was in a lot of pain from Body Attack, maybe the class was not quite as easy as it felt at the time!

SATURDAY: another gym session, with cross training intervals and then some strength work. 

SUNDAY: it was an odd feeling waking up today and having not just no race, but no prescribed distance to run. It was literally up to me if I wanted to run and what I wanted to run. I obviously wanted to run, despite the fact it was lashing it down with rain already, so chose a familiar ten mile route. I went with an open mind that if I needed to stop, head back and cut the run shorter I would. My legs felt good though, and once I had got used to the rain driving against my body and the squelching sensation in my shoes, I was covering the miles quite nicely up until around the seven mile point. The last three miles were a bit of a slog as the rain pelted harder against my soaked skin and my shoes felt very heavy. I finished with an average pace of 8.48 min/miles, which for a steady run, after the stresses of the last few weeks and in dire conditions I was happy with (see soggy post run image). I think the run rather fittingly signals the end of my summer running and events, and starts a new period as I head into winter running and the races, goals and challenges this will bring...