A new weekly mileage PB (2021 Week 7)

Welcome back to another post on my blog! Thankfully this week it’s been much warmer so there were no concerns about snow, although as you’ll read not everything went to plan…

Monday – 10k easy
One of the key attributes in ultraendurance events is adaptability. You can come up with nice detailed plans, but you have to be prepared to adapt on the go when unforeseen things crop up. Of course we’ve all had to learn to be adaptable over the last 12 months as well, with making plans very difficult!

Monday morning was a good example of needing adaptability. Usually I’d be aiming to make some headway into my work for the week, but I turned up to McDonald’s to collect my first order only to find that their tills were broken so they couldn’t process any orders. Having been told  the issue wouldn’t be fixed until lunchtime, I decided to make the most of the spare time and go for my weekly 10km run. As always the run was nice and relaxing, providing the chance to stretch after the long threshold effort the day before. As I finished my regular loop around town I saw that the issue had been resolved and so after a quick shower spent the rest of the day working.

Thursday – 24 miles
Further adaptability was required when on Wednesday evening the gear shifter on my bike snapped! This required a trip to the mechanics who told me it wouldn’t be ready until early on Thursday afternoon, so I suddenly had a morning to fill. And how better to fill time than with a long run?

The first glimpse of clear sky
almost 3 hours in!

I have to admit, this was a run which tested my mental skills as much as the physical element. It started to rain about 5 minutes before I set off, and would last for around the first 2.5 hours. Personally I don’t mind running in the rain too much - in fact during the summer it can actually be nice to have the cooling effect, but after that length of time I was beginning to wish for the sun to come out. Not only was it wet but it was also both windy and muddy, which are probably my least favourite conditions. Whenever there are tough conditions like that I try to remind myself that in a long race such as my 100 mile race in June, while there might be rain for part of it it’s very unlikely to rain for the entire event, and so I just need to keep going and trust that there are better conditions ahead!

I was rather surprised after the run to find out that this had been the most elevation I’d ever achieved, with 2855ft of climbing. That was a nice landmark to reach having climbed Beacon Hill twice, Hunts Hill in Bradgate Park three times, and Suicide Hill once. I’ve definitely noticed myself getting stronger on climbs as my training progresses, so hopefully that’s something which pays off for my race which has over 12000ft of climbing! At least hills help to provide a bit of variety, whereas long flat runs can sometimes be a bit monotonous. And hills can also give you some brilliant views, although sadly there weren't any to capture today with the rain.

Another positive out of this run was my pace – despite the elevation I got round the 24 miles around 8 minutes faster than when I did the same distance on Christmas Day. While speed isn’t the ultimate focus at the moment, it’s good to see that the 25 minute run, 5 minute walk strategy is still leading to improvements, while at the same time providing me the chance to keep eating and hydrated. That will be put to the test further next Tuesday, with a solo 50km run planned which will be my longest of training so far!

Saturday – 3 hours
With work done for the week all I had planned for my weekend were 2 morning runs. I thought I’d get the longer one done first, and after the muddy trails of Thursday I just wanted to keep things as simple as possible. I therefore headed out for a road out-and-back run, deliberately heading into the strong wind for the first 90 minutes so that I’d have it behind me for the return leg. Little elements like that can make a big difference!

Personally I never find road loops as interesting as trails, and this run was no different from usual in that regard. The Charnwood Way is a cycle path (also used by walkers) which connects where I live in Loughborough with Leicester, the nearest big city 10 miles away. I recently cycled along it for the first time, and so decided to see what running it would be like. I always find something motivating about running to a particular destination such as a new city! Although not the most interesting, it's an easy route and once lockdown restrictions ends I'll probably use it to visit places like the National Space Centre - who needs public transport when you can run?!

Selfie at Leicester North

Sadly having reached the outskirts of the city it was pretty much time to immediately turn around. First though I noticed a sign indicating it was just 200 metres to the Leicester North station on our local heritage railway. In a complete coincidence I had planned one day this year to run there as I live at the opposite end of the line, but I hadn’t looked into it yet and so had no idea that this would be the run where I did that! Being so close it would be silly not to go and take a photo, although sadly the line is closed at the moment due to lockdown.

The return leg was relatively uneventful, other than for the fact I actually began to feel warm and start drinking more than usual. Spring is almost here!

Sunday – 10k easy
Originally the 4^th run of my week was meant to be my regular midweek interval run. But after 2 long runs in 3 days I didn’t think it would be valuable to do a high intensity session and so switched that with a simple 10k run. Yet another example of adaptability this week!

No vintage sunrise, but
a very peaceful morning!

I knew that throughout the day there was tennis, netball and snooker I wanted to watch, so decided for the first time in a while to run before breakfast. There are potential benefits to running while fasted such as an increase in the amount of fat you burn, but I also find it leaves me hungry and lethargic for the rest of the day, so I don’t do it too often. I’m glad I did for this run though, as I was up just before sunrise and made my way to nearby Charnwood Water. Charnwood Water is an abandoned claypit which has filled with water and is now a lovely place to go for
a walk or a run. I tend to avoid it during the day as it’s also popular with dog walkers, but at that time of the morning it was almost deserted. I was therefore able to do a few laps enjoying the soundtrack provided by the many birds, ducks and geese, before heading home ready for a nice quiet day.

Totals:
Week – 55.4 miles (a new PB!!)
February – 145.4 miles
2021 – 334.2 miles

Thank you for reading! How did your training go this week? Do you do fasted runs? And what’s the most elevation you’ve had in a run?
For more regular updates, you can follow me on Instagram @andrewsultrablog. The main event of  next week is a 50km training run planned for Tuesday – the furthest run of my training plan so far! To see how that goes, and to get more detail on my training, follow me on Strava: https://www.strava.com/athletes/5373701