Another hard week but actually felt a bit stronger this week so maybe I broke through the plateau!! Hope so!

Monday
REST! and a SPORTS MASSAGE with Nuneaton Sports Injuries - wonderful!

Tuesday:
Long Run - 17.5 miles at a pace of 9:14mins/mile which was a big improvement on last week and I felt a lot stronger in the last few miles than last week so that was encouraging!  GOt home, Ice showered my legs (Oooooooof!) and did some stretching.

Wednesday:
REST!  Well core and stretching but essentially rest!

Thursday:
Cycled to work and back - 15miles there and 22 back.  Average of 13.5 - 14mph which isnt bad on Claud!  I really did feel tired when I got home though but was pleased with best part of 40miles in the bag ;o)

Friday:
INtervals!!  4 x 5min sprints with 1 min recoveries.  Best Interval was 7:43mins/mile, slowest was 8:08 so Not bad!  Recoveries were around the 9:15-9:30 mins/mile but Id prefer to see a bigger spike inbetween the intervals and the recovery!  That means faster sprinting!

Saturday:
6 hours on the Turbo in the Nuneaton Ropewalk shopping Centre!  Was worth it as we raised a fantastic amount but my bum was numb by the finish!

Sunday:
The weather was DIRE! But I made up my mind I wanted to cycle so me and one other lunatic "Wheeler" set out on a wet and wild 35 miler!  Not before I had to swap from Gerard to Claud due to a flat tyre!  Made me realise how much heavier Claud is than the milano as I was getting unceremoniously dumped on the hills!  Still it made me work hard and as the ride was only short it wasnt a bad thing!  Was damn FREEZIN when I got home but very smug in the afternoon that I had gone and done something productive :D 

Starting to up the anti now.....races are looming! ARGH!

Monday....Day of rest!

Tuesday
Long Run - 18 miles in 2hrs 52.  Pace 9.30 mins/mile which I guess is not too bad over this distance but nowhere near a 4 hour marathon!  But I felt much better than last week. Felt good up until about mile 14 then got very tired and my pace per mile slowed drastically!  But I guess the only way to solve this is continued long runs!  Great! lol!

Due to a busy week with meetings and the weather still being DIRE the training wasnt as regular as normal..... but what I did do I made COUNT!

Monday
Spinning Class - another Intense spinning session working on Endurance, high cadence and Intervals.  Its hard work but I do enjoy it!  Just dawned on me today that I can wear my SPD's as they have clip in pedals!  This will be a lot better plus I can really concentrate on my pedalling form.  HURRAH!
In the evening I had a sports massage by Nuneaton Sports Injuries which was great!  I am going to try and have one per month - more if I can afford it!  I read a great article on HOW MASSAGE HEALS SORE MUSCLES which was tweeted by COVENTRY RUNNER which tied in very nicely with this!  It is worth spending the money on a massage if you are training hard.

Wednesday
LONG RUN - I had a day off work today as I was taking my daughter to Preston for a Uni Interview so I ran in the morning this week.  And it was COLD!!!!  I could barely feel my face by the time I got home!  But I still managed to do 14 miles at an average pace of 9mins / mile.  I do admit to not feeling as strong as last weeks run and the time reflects it but it would still achieve a sub 2hr Half and I have got to accept that I cannot go at a rate of knots on every single run I do! Especially the long runs otherwise I will end up with an Injury again!  After reading about the benefits of massage and also cold baths after exercise (If its good enough for MEB its good enough for me!) I decided that after long runs I will soak in cold water and then massage my calves to help recovery.  Well you would have died laughing if you saw the performance of me getting in the cold bath!  OH MY GOD!!! It felt painful!  But after hopping back out, once the sensation returned to my legs (LOL!) they did actually feel better!  So I persevered and continued to soak them in the cold water!  Then I massaged the muscles.  Although my legs ached that day I was really suprised and a little bit impressed that the next day my legs felt pretty good actually!  So Im going to continue with this routine.....

SUNDAY
Finally!  I got to ride out with the WHITESTONE WHEELERS!! My first ever club run and i have to say I felt ridiculously excited riding out with a group of "proper" cyclists.  Was a bit nervous to start, the guys looked good with their snazzy kit, carbon bikes and tri-bars!!  But I managed to keep up over a 50 mile route at an average of 15.45 mph and felt really quite pleased!  I will definately be going again! :D  I wonder......does this mean....I am a cyclist?  Maybe the clown on a bike days are behind me.... but then again! :p