Well my three weeks of hard training got off to a great start! I had a good track session on the Monday evening, 18x400m. I did the first 6 at 90 second pace, the second 6 at 85 pace and the third set at 80 pace. I felt comfortable and in the zone, a place where you can only be for a short while before dropping off or burning out. Wednesdays track session was just as good; 10x4 minutes. I ran at just under 90 pace and again felt very comfortable, apart from my hands which felt incredibly cold! Although I felt good and my fitness seemed to have peaked. I always have the nagging doubt in the back of my mind that I've peaked too early but I hoped that this wasn't the case.
I had a good hill session on the Friday morning before work. The ground was so frozen that I thought the road was a safer option. We live near a very undulating quiet lane which is great for a hill session when you are short on time. I did 8 reps, which was definately enough.
I had planned a long run with the boys at Brandon on Sunday, and then 6 inches of snow fell overnight and put an end to that! I was snowed in for the day in Chedburgh but managed to run over to Ickworth to meet the boys there instead. We did two laps of the park, which added up to 17 miles! Great for fitness running in snow that deep and brilliant for cleaning shoes too!
On Wednesday I went to Easton college with Pat and Eloise for the cross country. have to say we were all very surprised that it wasn't called off. The course was two laps of farm tracks and was covered in compressed snow and ice. When we jogged round to warm up it was so slippery I decided to put my spikes on. This ended up being a good choice, I was able to get on my toes confidently and didn't slip at all. I had a good race and finished first lady. I'm really pleased as I've now won the Weds League with 6 race wins, woo hoo!
I met the boys at Ickworth for a steady 17 miles on the Sunday. The ground was still frozen and icy so we tried to stick to the woodland trails as much as possible. I felt great, raring to go, and then, as it can often do when you reach peak fitness, it all went horribly wrong!
When I got home from the long run I discovered a blister on the underside of my big toe. I drained it, cleaned it and dressed it as I'm prone to infections from blisters. On Tuesday night my toe started throbbing, and by Wednesday morning I couldn't walk on it! No training for me this week :-( .I started taking antibiotics straight away, and by Saturday it was ok to walk on but I felt pretty lousy. I was supposed to be racing at Bungay the following day, which gave me a bit of a dilema as I needed to complete this race to feature in the league but had far too much to do at home and felt under the weather.
I decided to man up, and made my way over to Bungay. I started jogging round to warm up and had to walk several times. I felt too hot, and then too cold. Not good at all. After a quick chat with Herbi I decided that I might as well shuffle round as we had driven all this way. I started ok, and then half way round the first lap went backwards. My legs felt like jelly, no strength in them at all. I got slower and slower until I was struggling to jog. I was being overtaken by people who were usually quite a way behind me which was frustrating. Fortunately there is a dog leg in the three lap course which gives an opportunity to have a sneaky peek at who is behind you. I could see the next lady about 45 seconds behind me and, as I was still 1st lady at this point decided to compose myself, hang onto my jog pace and 1st place and take home the points.
I managed to hang on, and finished first lady, although I have to say I really didn't deserve it! I felt awful at the finish and went straight home for a lie down! After much waffling on at various running buddies about how badly I ran (aplogies to Pete B, Pete G, Chris, Darren , Mike and Herbi for ranting on!) I've decided that it was most likely due to the anti-biotics and feeling a bit crap!
I'm going to have a few easy days now and get my self back in gear for the last three races of the season. Lets hope they are more successful than Bungay..................................
