Week 12

Total distance run this week: 56 km
Number of runs: 4
Runs at tempo pace: 1 (9km)
Hill training: 8 x 260 m
Long run: 29 km
Other activities: cycling (20km)
Total training time: 7:30

There were lots of high points this week -- starting with a relaxed 8km recovery run and stretch on Tuesday that worked out all the kinks left over from my long run last Sunday.

Wednesday was hill training. I joined a group from the Slater Street Running Room that was tackling a steep 260m hill behind the Parliament Buildings and completed 8 hills at a consistent pace of about 5:45/km (going UP the hill) -- which is almost 20 seconds faster than I hope to run race day. Needless to say, I was pleased.

My tempo run on Friday was great too. I wasn't sure I was ready for it when I crawled out of bed at 6:30 am but, after a short warmup, I gradually increased my pace until my heart rate was where I wanted it, and settled into a nice groove for the next 6km or so. My goal pace was 6:00 min/km but because it was such a beautiful cool clear morning I had trouble running that slowly. In the end, I averaged just under 5:50 for most of the run and ran an extra couple of kilometres just because it felt so good.

I had a similar experience today. My plan was to run just 26km when I left the house a little after 7:00 this morning -- and that seemed plenty ambitious given that I'd had a few glasses of wine with friends last night and gone to bed late. But, as it turned out, it was another perfect running day -- cool and overcast with very little wind -- so I decided to make the most of it and ran 29km instead. To ensure I didn't overdo it, I ran at a comfortably slow pace throughout and focussed as much as possible on maintaining good form. I also stopped several times to stretch. Though quite tired by the end, I still felt I could have run a few more kilometres and, in fact, probably would have except that I was wearing old shoes and didn't want to risk injurying myself.

For those of you shaking your heads at the thought of me running 29km in old shoes -- I wore them as an experiment! As noted in my post last week, my right leg and hip have been acting up lately and my ART therapist thought I might need more arch support for my long runs. Turns out he was probably right. Though my old shoes don't have much bounce left in them, they do provide much more arch support than the Nike's I was wearing last weekend, and I could definitely feel the difference. I finished the run today with no pain in my right hip!

Good as they felt, I'm hoping today was my last long run in the old shoes since they really are pretty tired. I bought a shiney new pair of Saucony's yesterday which I'll try to break in this week. They're much like the shoes I had on today (also Saucony's) except that they have a bit more arch support and a cushier ride. They felt awesome when I tried them at the store yesterday but, of course, the only way to know for sure if they're going to work for me is to try logging some serious miles in them. Here's hoping.