My Best week yet but......

[johnt46]

Hi, last week I had my best week ever, Monday I knocked three and a half minutes off my 10k, Wednesday one and a half minutes off my 3K and Saturday 1 minute off my 5K Recently I have been sticking mainly to tarmac lanes, apart from some byway surfaces, on which there are a lot of pot holes and mostly uneven surfaces. I have been using NRC Fartleks run courtesy of Willowand Sola, thanks!, and also Chrissie Wellingtons Runfaster 2 , to try and increase my times as I seem to be in a rut. So with increasing paces and Sprints, given my age and a balance problem, I thought it best to stick to tarmac where possible, it obviously paid off.

So this week I decided that my long run yesterday would be taking it easier and took a more scenic route which was around the Trent and so a lot of longish grass and uneven ground.( A local runner and coach told me this type of surface is good for strengthening ankles etc.) I set off at 7am, intending to do around 12k, it was hard work! I stopped a couple of time to take photos and listen to the Cuckoo and skylarks. I thought when I got to the roads, approximately 7k in , things would be easier, but it wasn't, it was a struggle, but I managed my 12k. The whole day was an effort, my legs ached, hurt even. When I did my 10 miles a few weeks ago it wasn't this bad! Whether it was because I hadn't hydrated enough the previous day (something I'm not good at and always being told off for not drinking enough by my partner), the uneven grass surfaces, the change in temperature, I don't know, but I will try my Fartleks run tomorrow and hopefully will be fully recovered by then. Any thoughts or advice would be most welcome, my times aren't fast by any means, but it's always nice to get a PB 🤗

[Beatlesforever Graduate10]

Congratulations on all those PBs last week!! 👏👏👏 It sounds like all that effort combined with the more challenging trail running plus the heat and lack of hydration resulted in the perfect storm. But you still finished your run 👍💪 like coach Bennett says, we'll experience all sorts of runs but every single one will make us a better runner... even if it doesn't feel like it at the time 🤣 I'm not an experienced runner but what works for me is to stay on top of my hydration, getting enough sleep, plenty of stretching after the longer / faster runs and using a foam roller. But some runs are just bad for no apparent reason.... Hope you enjoy your fartleks tomorrow!

[nowster Graduate10]

Be careful not to overdo it on the uneven surfaces. It will eventually build up your ankle strength, but there's also the possibility that too much of it too soon could cause an ankle sprain. (Been there, done that.)