Tapering yeah!

Yes yes it’s late again. It’s that new job stress that taking up a lot of my time. Good thing I’m tapering at the moment. 🙂

W/C 9th September

Tuesday

I led the session again this week!

I had no PT gym class so that morning I did a Joe Wicks kettlebell strength workout. No messing about… ouch!

That evening, we jogged down to the bottom gates of the park to do a warm up of hill sprints.

This is a favourite and makes this bit of parkrun much easier on a Saturday. Counting down the lamposts knowing you can do it.

YET! This was only part one, the warm up of the session.

The second part involved a loop to the green hut and back down the main path. The aim for this was to be consistent.

I personally didn’t, as seen below but I turned up and I gave it a go. It’s all we can hope for.

Thursday

Just a standard Thursday running up hills with LRC!

As it begins to get darker on an evening (ugh), we ran at the start to Longwood tower to enjoy the daylight!

We then ran up Bull Green Road which was horrific, then up Longwood edge which is horrific but less so.

The rest of the route was more or less the previous week’s route so it was good fun.

Saturday

So I wanted to run fast today. It was no secret.

I wanted to run 27 minutes or as close as possible.

With 15 days until marathon day it was a bit reckless maybe – but I had a sports massage booked shortly after so I thought why not.

As I had mentioned it to friends during the week, I ended up having a bit of a pacing squad.

I felt really lucky to have suddenly appear and run with me or cheer me on.

The first 2 miles I was doing great but by the 2nd lap as we started to climb uphill I was fading. My friend Chris ran behind me shouting words of encouragement whilst Jed and Dave ran ahead.

I ended up running 27.21. Might not have been 27, but this is towards the end of a marathon training cycle. I have so much potential to go sub 27 and I can’t wait to explore this in a few weeks!

Sunday

This was my first long run alone for a while. It felt odd and at first I didn’t really want to.

It’s amazing how friends can help motivate a run!

This morning it was all me.

I only had to run 10 miles. Only, ha!

I celebrated each mile as I ran on the canal for the last time for a while. Honestly, I can’t wait to have a break! So it was a celebration. I finished at Aldi to grab a few things haha.

With most long runs it did take a few miles and I probably did go a little too fast but it felt good and it felt nice. I feel prepared now.

Week 15 thoughts

Tapering at this point is exciting. It’s needed. I don’t have to stress about routes or how I’m going to get there and back.

The lower miles also mean it’s not interfering with my new job. I’ve been in my new role for nearly a month and I’m still learning new things every day. It’s all very exciting. Lots to look forward to.

Next week my Sunday long run is 3 miles… might go a bit loopy! We shall see.