Two weeks off

Just as I was getting into a good rhythm of training, which included my first venture into a carbo depletion run, I picked up a right good stinky cold. Like most others, I work on the above/below the neck rule; if the cold is confined to the head only, it's generally OK to continue training (lightly) and I often find it's good to have a blow-out (literally!) on training runs to help get rid of the snot, if the cold ventures anywhere below the neck and into the chest, it's time to stop and take a rest. This time, although my chest felt OK, I was quite achy in my back and my head was pounding most of the time, so I just made the decision to take a couple of weeks off.

This lay-off coincided with the Dark Mountains race which I planned to do, so I reluctantly had to pull the plug on that one. Sounded like a brutal night out on the fells; last team standing basically wins! Definitely on the radar for next year.

I tentatively ran for 30 mins yesterday and did not feel too bad and followed it up with 90 minutes today, taking the Glenderaterra loop as used in the Lakeland 100 route. I seem to have come through the fitness tests without any major problems so I think I will be back in proper training again from next week.

Drinking Cumbria Ale

This two week lay-off has forced a slight change to my plans. I apply my "not-faster-than-8mins/mile" rule during December and January to make sure I ease myself into the year, but I have missed two weeks of this. While I was running today, I thought about whether I was ready to ramp up the tempo a bit now we are in February or do I want another 2 weeks of steady work. I have decided to keep the brakes on for another couple of weeks, the clincher being that I am planning a big week of training in a weeks time, including a long run on the West Highland Way, so it makes sense to keep things steady until that is out of the way.

View towards Great Dodd from above Glenderaterra

I have been doing some more detailed planning for the rest of the year, mainly identifying the weekends when I will do my key sessions; ultra distance long runs, back to back long runs and some more carbo depletion runs. In addition, I wanted to find a race to do in late summer to give me something to aim for after the WHW race. So after a few hours trawling t'interweb, I have found this little beauty; The Ring O Fire. It's a three day ultra race round the Anglesey coastal path, with days of 32, 64 and 35 miles. Sounds like a really good challenge and will give a fresh focus after the WHW and provide a number of trips in the campervan down to Wales to do some recces.

My main theme for this year, with regard to training, is to get more ultra length runs done. In my build up to the WHW race in 2010 I did 5 35ish mile runs during the year, the Lakeland 100 last year saw me do 8 monsters. This year, including December 2012, I hope to complete 13 or 14 before the start of June. I seem so much better at recovering from the long runs than I used be and, as long as I keep the pace nice and steady, I think I could be standing on the start line in Milngavie feeling more confident about my preparation taking some of the mental stress out of the race.

Time will tell!!!