Training, Planning and Running the DW Race

I now have a fourteen week plan which I am really pleased with, fourteen weeks because that’s when the Kilomathon is on. My training for the great north run was not structured at all. I would head out and run the distance that I felt like, and then get injured because I pushed myself too hard to quickly, then sit out for a few weeks while I waited for the pain to go away. This time I am going to build the distances sensibly. The plan itself is pretty straight forward.

Monday. Rest.
Tuesday. Pace run or hill run, alternating each week.
Wednesday. Rest.
Thursday Easy run.
Friday. Squash.
Saturday. Cycle and Swim.
Sunday big run.

The Tuesday run will either be a short 4 mile run with some high speed running thrown in, or I will tackle a hill. The Thursday easy run will be a nice casual jog with the wife (who also has a Owain devised 14 week plan, though her goals are slightly different to mine). Friday night squash is something different, using different muscles and exerting the cardio in a different way to distance running. Saturday morning will be a cycle to and from the swimming baths (about 6 miles) and then a 60 minute swim. And the Sunday big run will see me increase my mileage each week until by the time I reach week twelve I will cover the 16 miles of the kilomathon.

Last week’s squash was looking more promising, I have a few shots that are starting to test my dad and we are having more of a game of it now. I just need more practice, I am thinking in the long term I might consider joining a squash league.

The Saturday cycle and swim was surprisingly knackering. Riding to the baths was fine, it was all downhill. I then used the hour to work on my freestyle stroke. I am a convert to the Total Immersion technique, though it is going to take some time and practice before I have a strong freestyle stroke that will see me around a mile of open water swimming.
Cycling back out of town was slightly more arduous as it was pretty much all uphill and my legs were fried after the swimming. It has given me more of a desire to become a tri-athlete though.

Sunday big run. I was driven 6 miles away from home, and then ran back. It was really nice at 9am in the morning running through town. It was cool but I have winter running clothes now which made for a comfortable run.

Damage today? Surprisingly not much. I had achy calves from last weeks Wednesday run which were still tight for the squash, swimming and the Sunday big run, but I did stretch to warm down, and spent the rest of Sunday chilling my boots and today I am in surprisingly little pain. Feet hurt from blisters but nothing that time in the trainers can’t get rid of.