Through the first proper week in one piece & straight into another tough week. If sleep is key to recovery the end of last week was a disaster! This week’s important as an indicator of where my fitness sits currently & what goals we can look towards over the coming weeks.

Mon 27/3 – 5M Easy / 7M Steady. Shattered in the morning but felt good in the evening.

Tues 28/3 – 3M E / 15M Inc session of 3 x 8mins, 2 x 4mins, 3 x 2mins off 1min recovery. A bit off pace generally, not helped by the storm I ran in! A slight twinge at the back of my left knee during the 2’s meant I left the planned 1’s for another day so as not to risk anything. Solid enough session.

Weds 29/3 – 6M E / 10M Relaxed/easy finish with Jo. Knackered today!

Thurs 30/3 – 3M E / 6M R, pushed planned session back to Friday.

Fri 31/3 – 6M R / 11M Inc Session of 3 x 2M off 2 1/2mins recovery, brutal wind meant splits were all over the place but felt better today + XT.

Sat 1/4 – 8M R + XT/ 5M R

Sun 2/4 – 23M Inc 16M Tempo @ ~marathon effort. Around 5:30 pace, first 10 into the wind didn’t help. Felt good though & progressed nicely through the second half.

Total 108M, 3 1/2 hours cross training

Another solid week & by Sunday I was at last feeling like I’m starting to turn the corner & cope with the training load. All times are still a bit off but I’m ticking off all the runs easier now & can feel the fitness coming. Cross training/gym work is still down due to ongoing car issues but that should only be a couple more weeks now. Sunday’s run solo was a good end to the week & I now have a loaded weekend to luck forward to with the National 12 Stage on Saturday & a local half the following day that I’m told I’ll look to race flat out. Sunday afternoon will be spent glued to the sofa with Paris Roubaix for company.