A Mixed week - Up and Down

Whenever you start training specifically for an event, you start a countdown in your mind. On a good training day, the time to go to an event seems an age away, and when things don't go so well on a run, then the countdown clock seems to be running faster. This week, my clock has been speeding up and slowing down, all in the same few days.

I started the week with a good run with the Hash on Sunday. For many months I have been treating the Hash runs as simple jogs, with little effort, but this week, I ran with the front runners, and enjoyed a good 10Km run in the sun, albeit a little stop and start, but an enjoyable run, where I knew afterwards I had been running hard.

Monday is usually a rest day for me, but I jogged out and did 3Km in the sun, trying to get accustomed to the excessive heat, without pushing the body. Tuesday morning I was out early and had a good run down to Parque Dominico, where I extended the run to 10Km by running three circuits of the park, and feeling excellent - thinking the Santiago Marathon is a long way away...

Working on my alternative strategy, the following day was another "Run in The Sun" day, and an easy run to a nearby plaza, which is around 250 metres around, where I ran laps on the clock to see how I was doing, with the intent of using this plaza as a place to carry out interval sessions next month. I again ran out in the heat of the day, and certainly felt it, but was happy with the session.

However, Thursday, my left hamstring was feeling very sore, and although my plan was for a longer run, I decided to simply loosen the leg out and jog a short run. This I managed, using the Plaza Circuit again, and felt the tightness, so took things very easy. When I got home I iced the leg, and that countdown clock seemed to be rushing all of a sudden...

I decided that rest may be the best for the leg, so took Friday off, and on Saturday, the leg was feeling a lot easier, having had no hard run since Tuesday really, so took an easy jog to test. This morning, I decided to go for another 10Km run. With 10 weeks to go on that clock - 70 Days - I need to maintain these runs and extend them weekly to get the mileage in the legs, while balancing the tight hamstrings by stretching out. I ran 53:53 for the 10Km run today, not particularly fast, but I hope to race a 10K before the Marathon to judge the speed in March, we shall see.

So, up and down week, but satisfied with the running, just not happy with the hamstrings which I have to hand hold as I progress. We shall see..... On the weight front things are going in the right direction, which will obviously help the stamina, and will also help the hamstrings as I will have less weight on them :)... 2 Kgs lost so far, and creeping under the 90 Kilo mark, and with 10 weeks to go on that target as well, need 1 Kilo a week over the period.