2010 Progress Entrant - Iola Wilson

Contents:- -Intro- Report -1- -2- -3- -4- -5- -6- -7- -8- -9- -10- -11- -12- -13- -14- -15- -16- -17- -Final-

Report 15 - Week beginning 19/04/10

The X-ercise Files - Diary of a 'wannabe better' long distance runner

We are just weeks away from the big day now and I'm really hooked on running again! I've been really looking forward to and enjoying my training sessions. Week 15 was a hard one because I had lots to do. Some close friends were visiting, I worked four days and we had various other commitments. I had to switch my training days and ended up running 4 in a row.

On Wednesday I was about to head out the door when the weather suddenly changed and it was hailing! I ended up on the treadmill in the gym as I couldn't face the wind and hailstones. Because of my procrastinating at home I was also on a tight schedule and felt very under pressure. I ran 4 miles but very quickly got bored. I ran it quite fast but found it difficult to stay motivated and ended up walking short sections. I went home feeling disappointed with myself and pretty de-motivated.

On Thursday I went out for a quick run after work. As I hadn't made it to the endurance session on Tuesday I decided to do my own version of the session along the river in Wick. I warmed up by running down to the river then did 10 x 2.5min reps with 1 min recoveries. I did these at faster than my expected 10k pace (average 7.15/mile pace) and half of them were killers because of the headwind! By the time I got home I had run 5.6 miles. I felt really positive afterwards and had a quick turnaround before dinner and a few glasses of wine with friends.

Friday night was hill night at the harbour. I had been feeling a bit dodgy and very tired in the morning but was better by the evening so made it along to the session. We decided to up the number of reps this week. I had my usual 1.8 mile warm up then we did 3 reps to the gate (just over half way up), 2 to the top and 3 to the gate to finish. The headwind was a killer on the full hills but everyone kept pushing and although it felt very hard we enjoyed it.

On Saturday morning I had to do my long run as I was working on Sunday. This was day 4 in a row and my legs felt very tired. I also had a bit of pain and stiffness developing in my left ankle/calf. Conditions were windy at the top of Newton Hill and as I was tired and pushed for time again I decided on an 8 mile run. It felt like a real plod but I upped the pace over the last 2 miles, doing the last mile in under 8 minutes. My left leg felt a bit sore after about 3 miles and has been stiff since the run. I wonder whether the camber on the roads is affecting it and if I am over-pronating on the left foot. I won't make it down to Inverness before the 10k but hope to go for a gait analysis session next time we are south. Having read about Jayne's recent injury I am keen to make sure I am in the right shoes and doing everything I can to correct my running gait.

My aim for next week is to make sure I am getting some rest days between runs and to catch up on some sleep! Hopefully my training won't feel so rushed, and the crazy weather will settle down a little.