Monday September 23rd. HRV= 75 White.
Taper time and this is a good start. Short lunchtime run of 8.5K at an easy pace that picked up towards the end. Rested after work and had a relaxing evening which included an online Q&A for http://www.runinthedark.org/training/.
Plan for tomorrow is an early gym session.
Tuesday September 24th. HRV= 69 Amber.
Lower than expected and will be cautious today. Early Gym session of only mobility work consisting of Foam Rolling & Stretching. Didn’t run at lunchtime as i needed to stock up on supplies for the race a pick up a pair of running shoes thanks to Salomon Running. Managed to fit in an after work 10K while my son was training and ran a flat route with one of my training partners recovering from a recent half marathon. Finished the day with a spinach & onion omelette and a double serving of Cherryactive.
Plan for tomorrow is undecided but will try include an early night.
Wednesday September 25th. HRV=64 Red.
Much lower than expected or would like but then again it could also reflect my training Peak. Today will be rest with attention paid to Recovery and it’s my first day off in 63 days and a total of 943K. Didn’t get to bed as early as planned due to some unexpected tasks that needed doing.
Plan for tomorrow is undecided but I’m hoping for an early night.
Thursday September 26th. HRV=61 Red.
Not good and totally unexpected after resting yesterday. Will take it easy again today but might do a short easy run this evening with a few short sprints depending on how I feel after work. Went out for a short run of less than 10K and threw in a few 150M sprints and happy with the leg turnover. Was careful not to get carried away. Early night with a serving of Cherryactive.
Plan for tomorrow is an early start for my flight to the Isle of Man.
Friday September 27th. HRV= 74 White.
An early start for a flight to the Isle of Man. The plan is for an easy enough day and will try for an early night. Got picked up by ‘Mark Murphy’ of Manx Fell Runners and took the opportunity to see part of the route from the roadway while junctions were being marked and then went to the hotel feeling like I needed to study the map a little bit better as visibility today was quite poor and I needed to work on a few escape route before they were needed. Met with the editor of Trail Running Mag and went for dinner before retiring shortly after 10 pm.
Tomorrow is Race Day.
Saturday September 28th. HRV= 61 Amber. Race day!
Bad start to Race Day but the show must go on. Early start yet again for a 5:00 am pick up to the start line and a 08:30 am start. Started off conservatively keeping an eye on my heart rate knowing that I’m not fully rested and it’s a long way with some tough climbs. Tried to keep HR below 150 bpm as knew this would be very economical and reduce my needs to refuel. All went according to plan and ran well with strong climbs but made a few mistakes with route selection when leaving more than 1 of the peaks and this cost time and effort but never did I feel the need to stop although I was forced to walk on a few occasions. Found the last climb extremely tough as I’d miscounted and thought the second last was the last one and this was tough both mentally and physically. Made up a few place at the start of the last climb so it wasn’t just me that was suffering and that gave me the incentive to stay strong. Had a clear unchallenged run to the finish and crossed the line in 14th place with a time of 6hr49min and that’s 1 hour longer than I was predicting but having ran the course it’s a time I’m happy with and it’s only 2 months after the 24-hr Irish Championships. Crossing the finish line we were handed a bottle of the local beer ‘Okells’ and that in itself was worth the effort.
Plan for tomorrow is unknown but hopefully I’ll get a chance to check out some other local routes.
Sunday September 29th. HRV= 52 Red.
The day after and a lot lower than I expected but guess the post-race prize giving celebrations have added to it. Legs feeling good and no hint of the DOMS (Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness) although I always prefer to feel sore after a race as it shows the effort was made. Two members of the Manx Fell Runners offered to do a sight-seeing tour and today was spent touring the Island and this ended a perfect weekend and I’m very grateful to the warm welcome and hospitality offered by the Manx Fell Runners and I’d highly recommend this race as it’s a hidden gem. I plan on doing a more detailed race report shortly.
Plan for tomorrow will depend on Recovery and includes the online Q&A.
Weekly Summary
A great week which ended with a very tough, enjoyable and challenging race. I’ll spend the next few days taking it easy and recovering and will wait until my HRV goes above 70 before resuming training. Cross Country next week??…
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