Nearly there

Two weeks to go. So nearly there!

First the positives – I got out three times this week. Tuesday was a tough but rewarding one. It wasn’t as hard as the previous week but even still 5 x 1.4 kilometres with 3 minutes jogging in between certainly got the muscles moving. Thankfully with company it is always that little bit easier, with a bit of a stress on the ‘little bit’.

On Wednesday I managed to beat the darkness for a short recovery run around the town.

Finally, on Saturday I did a light 8 k with a friend down from the capital. It was a perfect weekend for runs and criss-crossing the fields in the town my mate was struck not only by how lucky Trim is to have two large fields complete with walking and running paths but by the amount of people out and about. And it January 21^st! The Trim 10 mile will be my friend’s longest ever race and hopefully a great start to what he hopes will be a Dublin marathon year. I have a feeling he won’t be alone in his hopes come February 5^th.

Unfortunately, next up were the negatives – A dose stopped me getting out Sunday. It would seem that along with half the rest of the country I have been struck down with one of the seasonal snuffles. It is one of the perks of being a teacher as schools become a bit of a petri dish at this time of year.

As a result, I had to cancel my expected long run on Sunday that was due to contain some race pace tempo in it and I will probably spend the next few days trying to shift it. While annoying, if you are also experiencing something similar don’t fret. Firstly, it is probably likely that by having a dose now you won’t have one race day. Secondly, your training is pretty much done. The last two weeks of running prior to a 10 mile are not going to make or break you. The quality has already been achieved in the last two months, particularly during last month. At this stage, it is as much about keeping yourself ticking over so missing out on training is not a disaster.

So if like me, you have a nose that is running like a broken tap and a cough that you just can’t get in under forget the tough stuff this week. If it lets up a little don’t be afraid to wrap up well and go out for a short 5 k or so but other than that, allow the body to recuperate. Take comfort with the television and the central-heating.

If however you are lucky to be feeling in tip-top shape then great stuff, well done and keep going. However, before you start this week’s training would you ever do us a favour and fix us a water-bottle on the way out?

This week’s training.

This week’s training:

Slow run: 40 minutes.

Tough run: 10 min warm up - 6*4 mins intervals with 1 min recovery - 10 mins warm down.

Long run: 75 minutes slow.