I am back....

It seems ages since I last blogged and I suppose it is. Actually it is only two Sundays.

I suppose I really don’t have much to report on myself. Training is going well. I am continually building my mileage and I used my holiday week in Spain to start running twice a day.... why start on holiday I hear you ask? Well simple really. I didn’t want to do long runs on holiday and therefore the option of two short runs worked well. I did a couple of 9 mile morning runs along the beach with Niandi, but on the whole I ran between 3-5 miles twice a day at an easy pace.

This worked really well. It meant I got extra sleep (we needed it). It also meant that I spent my time with Mum, the boy and Niandi. It was nice to kick back and take the pressure away from the need to run and train. As you can imagine, the lack of running was replaced with pool time, beach time, eating, drinking and basically late nights. So, now both Niandi and I need a holiday....

This week I have got back into hard training with a tough week. I have done long runs, tempo runs, short recovery runs, trail and road. One run in particular that went really well was a 12 mile run over a very tough undulating route with 3 climbs. I ran hard and went to max HR on all 3 hills covering the 12 miles in 1:23. It wasn’t the time that mattered but the fact I couldn’t have gone much harder over that terrain. The next day I could feel it so I was happy with my effort. Today, Sunday I ran 20 miles trail at 8min miles. It was one of those runs that when I went out I could have turned back after 4 miles, but I put my head down and pushed on. In the end it turned out to be a good end to a very tough week.

Niandi arrives in the UK tonight for 3 weeks which is great. We are going to train together and be specific for our run at the 100km de Millau in September. But first we have a massive week planned for the 23^rd August. Our plan is to run 180km in the Lake District over 4 days carrying all our kit, including tent and being self sufficient. Tentative plans are between a marathon and 35 miles per day and we will circumnavigate the whole of the Lakes taking in over 22,000 feet of very rough and tough wild terrain. It is going to be great fun. I hope the weather is kind.

After our 4^th day we will have two easy days and then run a road marathon on the Sunday in Fleetwood. Obviously we will just be running and not racing!

Clients have been racing and in particular Julie, Nick and Richard. Julie PB’d once again over a 5 mile circuit to get a 37 min time. Nick did sub 10 (9:54) at Ironman Roth and Richard Fluck knocked 10 mn off his half marathon time in his build up for Venice. I am always pleased with clients PB ing but Richard in particular provides great satisfaction. He is really committed to his run targets and work and family sometimes make his task difficult. It was only 4 weeks ago when he was completely fed up and un motivated. By removing targets and just getting him running, he got the LOVE back. The results are obvious with a 1:52 – brilliant!