IT'S NEVER EASY!

With another week of work training behind me I thought I had better look back and see why climbing the stairs to the 10th floor seemed like hard work!!!

Wait I think I've said that all wrong, it's always hard work climbing the stairs to my office... Some days I get the feeling that all this training just make me tired, but maybe tired is good:

Monday 11 March started like most of my weeks start, with a easy run to recover from the weekend, now my recovery runs isn't the same as yours... I set off from the club at UCT and take the boys (and a couple of girls) up to the block house a 500m+ climb up the side of Devils Peak. I told you it was a nice recovery run the 12.3km took my just over and hour.

Tuesday, I will not beat around the bush, 6 x 1km on the road with only 90sec can be hard work, and with our little loop being slightly up on the km out and that same little bit down for km number 2 my splits looked like this:  3:22  3:14  3:20  3:11  3:19  3:01, put the cards on the table but couldn't dip the magical 3min.

Wednesday would normally be an easy loop in the forest anything up to 18km, but I have a wife and she also does a little running, and on this Wednesday she was running her 100th club Time Trail. So I left my children at UCT and joined my wife... No I didn't run with her, I still wanted a longish run, so I felt home early and ran 10.5km to the club. I did stand on the start-line with her as we started but... Yes BUT I took off no it wasn't really fast I was feeling yesterday (and so I should be) and I had to hold back for tomorrow's session. (like that was going to happen.) I finished in 17:23!

So what did Thursday hold, yes the session I was talking about, 30 x 200m 30sec rest... it's a biggy, but we are in the meat of training and as you know: It's no rest for the wicked, and no-one got fit without a little hard work. Don't worry guys I am human I pulled of the track after 20 of them (34sec-38sec)

Friday rest day, so I just jogged 6km round the block before work. Now I know going over to the neighbours for a drink isn't training, but to much red wine and the need to be up by 04h15 if I was going to make it to the 30km race.... OK on to Saturday

I slept in... 30km race didn't happen: Instead I put on these shoes

NB MT10

and head for:

Maclear's Beacon

The top of the mountain, from home it took me 90min to reach the top, and it was hard work the whole way... I didn't just turn round and head home, I turned to Platterklip and the Valley of the Red Gods, the mist had lifted and I was now running a little better:

Running back form my phone!

With the loop on top of the mountain done it was time to head down Nursery:

3h12:14, 26.3km, 1280m climb

Sunday, long run day, but after yesterday I didn't go mad and only ran for 90min (19km with a friend)

Only one more week of the heavy training before we taper...