Week 5, Day 2: One of THOSE Nights .. A Training Fiasco

Week 5, Day 2 ...

It was destined to be One Of Those Nights.

It was a 7 mile run scheduled for today which meant that I couldn’t quite fit it into my lunch hour AND have a shower … so it was postponed until after work.

I had an hour window between getting home from work and my partner having to go off to his group, to run and I was looking to get the training session in then. However, due to a combination of icy roads and customers wanting to get their money’s worth from his time, he didn’t get home until 6.30pm which meant my run would now have to be either on the treadmill or when he got home again which could be any time from about 10pm onwards. The treadmill was sounding a more sensible option, especially with all the ice on the pavements and I could get the run done nice and early.

About 10pm I woke with a snort in my three year olds bedroom, holding a now cold bottle of milk and a sleeping child. Ok … a LATE run tonight then.

7 miles on a treadmill sounded DIRE so I decided that I would test out the new trail shoes on the ice and snow on a 2 mile warm up and then do the speedy intervals on the treadmill. Technically cheating but I wasn’t entirely sure it was possible to manage a sub-8 minute mile on the ice without doing a Roadrunner style wheelspin and landing in an undignified heap on my bottom. Amusing for any passers by but not entirely conducive to successful training, completing a speed session OR staying uninjured.

My partner arrived home at 10.30pm and I was ready to head out, resplendent in a hi-viz jacket, warm hairband, gloves, pink jacket and new trail shoes. In fact I looked like a Christmas tree that had collided with a traffic cone. 

My partner mentioned that there was an odd man wandering around the roads holding a clipboard. This spooked me. Of course, it was probably one of the next door neighbours who’d lived in the road for years putting his bin out ...

I spent the first mile of the run looking around like a meerkat and making eep noises – getting ready to scream should a weirdo carrying a clipboard – why a clipboard?? – should leap out from the neighbour’s conifer hedge and make molesting motions. Quite what these should be I wasn’t quite sure but I thought I’d probably know them when I saw them. I did of course have my personal alarm (which I carry as standard – free from the local police station) but I’d spooked myself and did just 2 miles and got home.

Went and got treadmill ready for speed session and realised phone completely dead. I couldn’t face the thought of an hour’s run on the treadmill with no distractions so went indoors to charge it ... next thing I knew it was 5 past midnight ... sigh.

(Wavy lines, wavy lines)

Picture the scene: Next morning at work, paper being flung up into the air and hand searching desperately through a desk before a single sheet of paper is brandished triumphantly in the air ...a free 7 day gym pass to a local gym.

Intervals finally completed indoors in the warm gym, looking out of the window at the ice and snow outside.

Goal: 5 x 1000m in 4 – 4.15 (6:26 – 6:50 min/mile) starting every 6 minutes.

Actual: 5 x 1000m at 14.5 kmph (6:35 min/mile)

1 mile warm up at 11.5 kmph (9 min/mile) and approx 250m recoveries while waiting for the next 1000m interval.

Total Session Miles: 7.3 (2 yesterday, 5.3 today in the gym)