October Buildup Week 3 - Phew!

This was my toughest week yet - and it feels like it.  On Monday, I ran 10 miles for the first time.  I broke it down into sections, focussed on the bit I was actually doing, and finished feeling pretty good.  I also got exceedingly wet, as the weather veered between spitting, sustained drizzle and heavy downpour.  But as my friends tell me, skin is waterproof.  So, allegedly, is my running jacket - not that you could tell, because when I took it off, the layer underneath was just as wet as the outside.

For the week as a whole, my target was to run 25 miles.  I actually ran 26, because my ability at estimating mileage when planning routes is pretty poor! On the fundraising front, I am now just £4 short of reaching £500.  Could you make my day by getting me over that line?  You could donate online via the link on the right, or give using your mobile phone:  send a text to 70070 with the message:

BGLM50 £4

... and that would be the job done!!  Thank you so much if you feel able to do that.

Now, although the 10 mile run went well, I discovered over the following few days just how much it had taken out of me.  I ran on Wednesday and Thursday, doing five and a bit miles each time.  And I felt increasingly tired, especially on Thursday.  This afternoon (Saturday) as I did my final run of the week, I felt a bit better, but not exactly fresh.  So all things considered, I am VERY glad that I had already planned the next two weeks to be easier, and I do NOT need to go out and run 10 miles on Monday morning...  This is the first time since I started running that I would say it has taken me more than a day or two to feel fully recovered from a run.

As I mentioned in last week's blog, training is a balance between effort and rest.  When you run further or faster than you are used to, you give your body a stimulus.  When you rest, it adapts to that stimulus becoming stronger, faster, more efficient at running.  If you don't give it enough rest, it can't adapt, and if you don't give it enough stimulus, it doesn't need to.  The skill is to do enough to stimulate those adaptations, while still having enough rest.  This week, I could have done with a little more rest.

So, for the next couple of weeks I am going to be keeping my runs a bit shorter, to give myself a bit of a break - ready to come back for a further foray into the world of the 10 mile+ run.  Onwards and upwards... gradually!

Thanks for reading, and for the encouragement which many of you have given me.  It really makes a  difference.