Rest Day…!!!

Today was/is a REST DAY for me….”What’s the FU@*..!” I hear you scream, “You’re supposed to be training EVERY DAY..FFS”. Well that’s true, and those that know will know that REST DAYS are an important part of the training process. It’s where you’re body recovers from the rigours of training, and starts making adaptions so you become fitter, and stronger.

So what’s this mean for the challenge..? Well as far as I am concerned rest days are important training days so even though I haven’t logged any miles today, it still counts as a training day for me….I mean, I have done some flex and mobility work anyway.

Tomorrow I am back on it…dentist first thing, then work followed by a session of half-marathon pace intervals (2 sets or 4 x 2K reps at 07:00/mi pace to be precise) so the legs will have been very glad for the rest day.

Running Buddie

OK, for those of you whom may have been wondering what ‘The Rug’ looks like here’s a couple of snaps taken recently;

Doing what 'The Rug' does best...

 

Tomorrow will be a long slow run out in the beautiful Yorkshire countryside as my London Marathon training has officially started, however this is not one for ‘the rug’…I fear 14 miles may be a bridge too far for his ‘ickle paws.

Recovery Run…

Legs felt a little flat from yesterdays efforts (I think it’s fair to say that they found it hard running on roads and paths after around 8 weeks of treadmill running..!) so I decided to go for a nice and steady recovery run.

Even though I am a qualified UK Athletics Level II Endurance Coach I still have the same habits as many other runners out there…especially when it comes to running recovery runs too hard/fast so, to try and counter that today I thought I’d pop out and do the run with ‘the rug’ (that’s my 3 year old Tibetan Terrier). He’s somewhat lazy and slightly overweight due to all the treats he gets from my three daughters, so there’s no way he’d manage to run hard and fast…and indeed as the run went on he was fading quicker than a snowflake in the desert.

We (or rather he) started sprightly enough…and I had to keep reigning him back in the first mile, but as we got passed the first mile he was only too happy to stay on my side and during the last mile he was starting to slow a little until (like a proper runner) he saw our house….he then seemed to find a little more energy and coasted in nicely.

We covered 2.67 miles (a mixture of road and trail/country paths) in 23m:13s, an average of 08:42/mi (split paces below);

Mile 1: 08:46/mi; Mile 2: 08:52/mi, 0.67: 08:19/mi

A good run for both of us….and day two of challenge completed.

New Years Day 10k

Today was first run on Jantastic….a little 10k road race in Cleethorpes. Legs were very flat after spending the last 4 weeks running on the treadmill…started well, hit mile 1 in around 6:40, but legs were feeling really dead so opted to drop pace, cruise round and have a good kick at the end.

Kick at the end was tidy, averaged 5:44 for last half mile….no PB, but a solid way to start off my London Marathon training and day one of Jantastic

Misc

OK, so I’ve survived Christmas…so far ;o) Despite trying to be good I feel like I’ve put on a few extra pounds over the last week or so, but that’s not too surprising as I’ve eaten & drank much more than I would normally, and done less exercise.

Christmas has been a real blast though, good times with the family. The kids got some great presents, especially the XBox 360 Kinect..! I’ve had a real blast playing Sports on the Kinext although Helen (Mrs Daz) wasn’t too pleased when my victory celebrations resulted in a smashed lamp shade…Note to self: no jumping in the air and waving the hands when I win the 100M dash on Kinect Sports. ;o)

After a few deserved days off training today I make a return to running. The weather is still rubbish here with lots of ice and frost and even a little snow today so it’s gonna be a long run on the treadmill at home. I should shed a few extra pounds too as the heating is on at home so I’ll be sweating like a bulimic at a buffet. At least I can watch TV on the nice new 26″ TV I treated myself too just before Christmas. I guess I’ll pop on MTV and just run to the beats for around 2 hours and see how far I get.

Thats all for today….may just pop into York in the afternoon as the girls want to spend their Christmas money.

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