Naomi moves up to a big bed and Dad does the Chelmsford 10K

There is good evidence to follow a training schedule consisting of a gradual, weekly percentage increases in order to develop muscle strength.

For example...
Week 1, lift 90 - 95% maximum.
Week 2 - 95 - 100%
Week 3 - 100 - 105%
Week 4 - 80 - 85%

However, for double-busy dads, my advice is to ditch the 'recovery' element in week 4 and go for complete rest. I am sure there is some benefit in lifting 80%, but is it worthy of 60+ valuable minutes at the gym? Not in my opinion and so this week, I did no S&C.

However, it was not my intention to do so little running again this week. Below is not so much a training diary as an excuses diary...

Monday: AM: 40' indoor cycle   PM: 4 x '1 mile' on road, (just a bit short of a mile to be honest) - 5'03''; 5'02''; 5'03''; 5'03''. Pleased with the consistency but still a bit of pace to find!

Tuesday: Work event in Cambridge followed by Naomi evening and bedtime duties meant a mandatory rest day. There is only one way to travel in Cambridge though, so I did clock a few miles on the bike

Wednesday: Managed just 20 minutes of jogging between Natalie, my wife, returning late from work and my fortnightly sport massage clinic at Bishops Stortford Running Club.

Thursday: AM: Nothing. (Early start required for a busy day at work). PM: 16 x 50 second intervals on grass with 70 second recoveries.

Friday: AM: 35' indoor cycle. PM: Put up Naomi's new bed. Fun and games getting her to sleep in it put paid to any ambitions for an easy recovery run before meal time.


Saturday:
AM: The best chance of a run was early AM but I passed this opportunity in favour of getting Naomi into town and to a local toddler session (free bacon sarnies for dads)! 'I have all day, I'll go later' I thought.
Midday: Horizontal rain anyone?
Evening: More horizontal rain followed by more fun and games getting little Naomi off to sleep again. No running today then.

Sunday: 2pm: Chelmsford 10K.

There is no official result as I write this but I did just duck under my target time of 35 minutes. I am happy with that, despite seeing some old nemeses about a minute or so ahead. Even so, the most important factor was that for the first road race since I can remember, my Achilles felt strong and I was pain free. In order to keep it that way, the next 7 days running will be low intensity. 3 sessions of hard running since Monday has caused extreme tightness in both calves, probably a cause of the Achilles problem in the first place.

Certainly not a week to remember for running. I blame the illness last week for an overwhelming sense of lethargy these last 7 days. Perhaps I tried to do too much too soon. How do other runners out there return after illness? Is there a law I have not learnt yet?

Monday and Wednesday I managed to do what I needed on the S&C front. Tuesday and Thursday I couldn't even get past the front door! The weekend did not provide much to write about either, (apart from a wonderful family wedding in Surrey - thanks to mum for being on nanny duties), but at least I got out and did something each day.


Chelmsford 10k next week - there will be no rest or taper for this, I need to get the miles in!

Monday
AM: S&C:
Back Squats 3 x 5 78kg
SL Dead Lift 3 x 5 94kg
Push Press 3 x 5 34kg
Pull Up 3 x 5 body weight
Barbell Roll Out 2 x 5

PM: 30' easy

Tuesday: Nada. Probably would not have mustered the strength to run even without the responsibility for bedtime today.

Wednesday
AM: S&C: (as for Monday)   PM: 60' easy (too much in one day???)

Thursday: Nada.

Friday: Dragged myself out at 7pm to do 30' in the rain

Saturday: 10' easy 20' continuous long hill rep's (tempo pace) 10' easy

Sunday: 30' around Godalming, Surrey @ hangover pace

Run Down

There are lots of rules to running and getting fit in general but there is one that should never ever EVER be broken. Whether you are starting to run for the first time, returning after a long injury or transitioning from a heel strike to forefoot running style, my advice is to always ALWAYS build gradually. Unless of course you are me and you suddenly have more time to train, have a pain free Achilles for the first time in 18 months and can see the cross country season fast approaching. Under those circumstances you may overrule the golden rule, so long as you can live the consequences.

Manflu struck Thursday morning, two days before the second Essex League Cross Country fixture at Colchester's Hilly Fields. I don't want sympathy so I will finish here and cut straight to the training diary.

Monday: AM: S&C.  PM: 30' easy

Tuesday: AM: Indoor cycle 25' easy.  PM: Intervals on grass - Up the Clock*

Wednesday: AM: No S&C - work trip to Peterborough.  PM: work late, 25' easy

Thursday: S&C: PM: Ill :(

Friday: Ill and need to get better quickly for Cross Country tomorrow.

Saturday: Essex League Cross Country, 8.5km. 32' 45''. Position 26th. PM: Single Malt.

Sunday AM: Fed the ducks.         PM: 50' at a very easy pace. More Single Malt.

S&C sessions:

Monday: There was the traditional Monday morning queue for the squat rack so...

Dead lift, 3 x 5, 85kg. 
Single heel drops (machine), 3 x 5, 107kg. 
Pull Up, 3 x 5, body weight minus 9kg. 
Barbell roll out, 2 x 6

Thursday:

Back Squat, 3 x 5, 75.5kg. 
 Straight leg dead lift, 3 x 5, 89kg. 
Then as for Monday (excluding Dead lifts).

* 'Up the Clock' is a normally a track session consisting of the following 5 reps: 400m - rest - 800m - rest - 1200m - rest - 1600m - 5' rest - 2000m. The distances I ran on Tuesday were approximate (but not far off).

Pending better health next week, weight will again be added to the S&C program and mileage increased, albeit  more gradually now. The week after will be a bit of a wind down ahead of the Chelmsford 10k. It will be interesting to see what I can do over 10km compared to two years ago. Going by the recent Essex League and Met' League cross country performances, I think I am about a minute slower than the 33'50'' I ran in at Hatfield BroadOak in 2010. I would like to one day run a minute quicker than that!

Okay, here goes...

Running, or even training, was simple before I became a dad. Way back then, I would be able to go the track at Thurrock after work on a Tuesday and breeze through half a dozen 1000's and then be back down there on a Thursday evening to test my speed against the middle distance runners. Racing on a Saturday never needed much planning and as for long runs on a Sunday, being out all morning would often go unnoticed, especially if X Factor had recorded from the previous night.

How things change when a little one comes along. Not that I wasn't warned! And not that I would want it any other way. Naomi brings me far more pleasure than running ever did and only half the frustration! But things certainly aren't simple anymore. Far from it in fact. Running is much further down the list of important things to do in a day and, on some days, going for a short easy run isn't even possible. Throw into the mix an on-off Achilles tendon injury for the last 24 months and you won't be surprised to learn that neither training nor racing have featured prominently in life since I won the Bungay Black Dog marathon in 2010.

However, the Achilles has been getting stronger in recent weeks thanks to some specific work in the gym and I am beginning to find just a bit more time to squeeze a run in here and there, which brings me to the reason for starting a blog.

I am not a great writer and am far from a great runner. I may be the only person who reads this blog but that doesn't matter. My theory is that if I publish my training diary to the world each week then I will be determined to get out and run more, even if it means heading out at 5am on a Sunday morning. This blog may be my only hope of putting together one last season of solid Cross Country and track racing. Will I ever run under 16 minutes for 5000m? Can I score a top 30 finish in the Met League? Could I be capable of a sub 2:40 or even 2:35 marathon? And still be a good husband and father? Only time will tell but if I manage it, you will read all about it here...

Here is my training week commencing 29th October, (the highest weekly mileage I have managed in 2 years):

Monday AM: S&C*; PM: 30' easy

Tuesday AM: Rest;  PM: 50' stepping stones (easy / steady)

Wednesday AM: S&C*; PM: 53' easy

Thursday AM: Indoor cycle, 35'; PM: 2 x 12 minute hill reps (Kenyan Hills)

Friday AM: S&C**; PM: 25' easy

Saturday: 6 x 3' intervals, on grass, (approx 900m

Sunday: Just about made it out the house before the fireworks went off, 60' dead on, very easy running - calves were aching from yesterday!

S&C*:

3 x 5 Dead Lifts - 80kg; 3 x 5 Push Press behind neck - 34kg; 3 x 5 calf drops (machine) - 100kg; 3 x 5 Pull Up - Body Weight minus 9kg; 2 x 6 Barbell roll out

S&C**:

The 'benchers' must have been having a lie in on Friday morning as the squat rack was free...

4 x 4 Back Squat - 73kg (form went on the final rep); 3 x 5 Straight Leg Dead Lift - 84kg, then as for Monday's session except for Dead Lifts.