16th June 2007

I got up bright and early on Saturday morning to feed and cloth the kids (or rather they got me up early …), letting my wife (Helen) have a well earned sleep in. By the time 7.30am came around you could tell it was going to be a fantastic day, cold, but fantastic.

Helen got up just after 8am (which is a pretty good sleep in at our house) to take over with the kids, and shortly after that I was out the door (I have a small window of opportunity to get out and do some training before my dear wife has to head off to start work at 10am on a Saturday).

Today was going to be my first run in 10 days following my running break due to the sore foot. The foot was feeling good, I’d just had a complete rest day on Friday so I was feeling good and revving to go. The plan was to spend around an hour running hills, which literally start with the jog up my drive. I’m a bit spoilt when it comes to hills, once I get to the end of my street the road goes up a fairly steep hill for exactly one k (I’ve measured it), then a little further on is a further climb of just over 2 k’s and then there’s some more climbing depending on which way I go.

The run was sensational, the day was cold but crystal clear, and I felt super strong. Even better my foot gave me no trouble. So 1 hour and 30 seconds later (it’s all about pacing) I was back from what worked out to be round a 12k hill run and home in time for a shower before Helen had to head off to work, and me and the kids got ready for what was sure to be a great day.

From a training point of view the run was great. With juggling family time and training time, it’s really important for me to get the most out of every workout. Today I really wanted to keep a 5 minute per k pace, to make sure that I had an even “there and back” split and that I stayed below my lactic threshold (given the first two goals this last one was just going to be a bonus due to the hills). In the end the run was so perfect that I go all the goals, and I wasn’t feeling particularly tired when I got home.

The plan seems to be working and things are on track.