Off on my hols...

It's finally arrived, after months of waiting & planning and if I'm honest, a few years of procrastination, but first thing Sunday morning I'm off for two weeks hiking in Cuba. Plan is plenty of walking, some good weather and some good nights sleeping :)

Looks like it should be manageable enough, except perhaps for days 9/10 which come across as being the toughest. That said, I'd say it can't be any worse than the Croagh Patrick section of Gael Force (although the mountain is three times the size).

Anyways, all the packing is more or less done now, so I'll be signing off until I get back in two weeks.

The week hasn't been a total write-off

Actually made it out for a run tonight, but really had to dig deep to get out there. Got back from work late enough, absolutely starving and the weather's been quite blustery all day so had convinced myself on at least three occasions to just make some dinner and relax.

Done my usual trick of putting on my kit, which if I get that far, always means I'll get a run in. The run itself wasn't really that enjoyable, found it tough enough. Aim was to do a short lap (5.5km) at 170bpm. As per usual, found I was hitting a wall after 4km, but struggled through.

I actually done a small lap PB, but that's technically not quite right as I've done two 5km runs before on the same route, but obviously stopped half a km short. Still, it's a marker for the future.

Also made it down to the pool today at lunch...nothing too stressful, mainly some drills and generally took it easy.

Just over two days to the holidays...can't wait.

Swimming update

Got down to the pool today for the first time this week. Although I set a 400m personal best (24m 9s), it's probably been my worst session so far. I really struggled with my breathing.

Still haven't got out for a run this week. Less said about that the better I think. It's mainly a mix between laziness and life getting in the way this week. I'm off on holidays next week for a fortnight and I guess that's also part of it.

Tomorrow's another day...we'll see what it brings.

Weekly Update:

A mixed week...got three runs in out of four due to a busy weekend. Weekend also meant I was very lax on the food front, which has sadly continued into this week.

Total running for the week was 16.6 + 6.87 + 10.39 = 33.86km which is down a bit from last week. I also got down to the pool for three sessions as well, so overall, not a bad week.

Weight wise, started off well, but as mentioned above, ended badly.

10km easy

On the way home from work, I was tired and hungry, it was cold out and I was debating whether or not to even go out for a run. I stopped off in Aldi, where I knew they'd some cheap deals on running gear and picked myself up a long sleeved running top, running jacket and a pair of gloves for £20.

Figured I may as well use them, so when I got home, threw on the gear and got ready to go. I was still feeling lazy and the only way to get myself out the door was to say I'd just do the small lap (5.8km). As usually happens these days, once I get going, I don't mind adding an extra km on here or there.

As today was supposed to be a recovery session, I capped the HR at 160bpm. I also done something that I'd been meaning to do for a few weeks now...just change the display on my Garmin to JUST display my HR...no pace \ distance \ etc. Just focus on the HR. I think it actually worked a treat. Still kept an eye on my 1km splits (watch automatically pops them up for a sec or two), so was happy out.

Done 10.39km in 1hr 8m (6m 33s per km) with an average HR of 160bpm. This compares to last weeks run of 10.97km in 1hr 14m 30s (6m 47s per km) with an average HR of 163bpm).

Current Training plan

I seem to be settling into a weekly routine of (based on this being my second week doing it):

• Tuesday: long run @ 160bpm - 1hr 30m + 10m every week
• Wednesday: tempo run @ 170bpm - my usual "big" lap (approx 6.9km)
• Thursday: long run @ 160bpm - undecided about this one...last week was 10km
• Weekend: one interval run - again, undecided about this

So tonight, I done the tempo run over 80s faster than last week. It felt "easy" enough for the first 4km, but after that I found it tough going. I've actually noticed effect a bit with my runs over the last few weeks...seem to hit a bit of a "wall" after 4km. No idea what that is about, maybe its a remnant of my training earlier in the year where most of my runs were 5-7km.

I need to think about what to do tomorrow, but will probably do something similar to last week as I've had two tough nights in a row now.

Swimming PB

Was down at the pool at lunch today. Slow lane was mad busy for some reason but got in anyways. Done the 400m in 24m 35s or so, which I'm well chuffed at. Will probably have to do 500m from now on to make up the half hour.