Monday: -
Tuesday: 15' @ 4:00, 15' @ 3:45 + plyometrics + core
Wednesday: 30' @ 4:06 + 40' @ 4:27
Thursday: 8 x 4' @ 3:25
Friday: 14 km (London)
Saturday: 40' @ 4:00
Sunday: 25 km in 1:51 (4:27) + core
+ achilles, Powerbreathe (virtually) every day
Total kilometers: 82
The training week got off to an early start on Tuesday as I decided to beat the sun out of bed and get my workout done on the track before breakfast. In spite of my GPS being all over the place, I was able to hit the rhythm on the dot, completing circuits of the 350m in 1:24 (15 kph) and 1:18 (16 kph) respectively. At lunchtime, I was back on the track to do my plyometrics: 3 sets of all the exercises from this article except that I only had one "box" (actually a bench) and no hurdles so I did tuck jumps instead. I had hoped to at least get two sessions of plyometrics in this week but with the extra complications associated with having a trip to London, I only managed one.
Feeling encouraged by the relative ease of my workout the previous day, I rather ambitiously decided to run for an hour around the track at lunchtime at an easy pace. That easy pace turned out to be a bit too fast for the midday heat - I enjoy the feeling of running fast much more than plodding - so I ended up cutting it short to only half an hour. My treadmill with the broken board had already been fixed so I figured I would try it out that evening and make up the rest of the kilometers. Amazingly, after ringing up only the Friday previous, the new board arrived on Tuesday and a technician was able to install it the next day. Just in time for my interval training...
I had to get up at the crack of dawn on Friday in order to catch a plane to London. Between the early start and meetings all day long, the only opportunity I had to train was in the evening which was just as well, because it rained most of the day before brightening up in the evening.
I designed a route to take me a long way round from my office near Warren Street to Stockwell, where my brother lives, via Regent's Park and Hyde Park. I got a little lost a couple of times - my Garmin has this infuriating habit of not updating the map when you are off course which is precisely when you most need it to - and had to stop for traffic lights more than I would have liked, so I got to my brother's house after my nephew had already been put to bed. I still find it weird that English people tend to put their kids to bed so early, only to be woken up by them again at 5 am.
I got back to Madrid just in time for lunch and did my 40 minute run on the treadmill before going out to a friend's 20th wedding anniversary celebration. Just as one should try to avoid going shopping when hungry, it is not a good idea to go to an event with a free bar when one is very thirsty after working out. I paid for it the next day with a terrific hangover which resisted 3 paracetamols and meant that I had to postpone my long run until later that evening; I had planned to run it on tired legs in the morning. For the first time since my last Marathon, I managed to get into the groove and it didn't feel too long or boring - maybe not listening to music actually helped me zone out. I went along an old route that I hadn't been on for some time - the one I used to use to commute to work before the Oriols fenced most of the area off. Most of the fences have been removed and not as the result of vandalism so I am very happy about that. It is a beautiful area only a few minutes away from my house where you can really lose yourself. In fact, the first time I ran there (before I even knew that GPS watches existed) I did exactly that and arrived home to find the car that I had booked to take me to the airport for my flight to Mexico, already there waiting for me...
There is only one thing that I can say that I like about running in summer and that is that I can jump straight in the pool afterwards to cool off. I suppose it is a bit unhygenic to jump in still in my running kit but it's my swimming pool and I'll do what I want to! My youngest son loves seeing me do this for some reason so I always make sure to call him first.
Tuesday: 15' @ 4:00, 15' @ 3:45 + plyometrics + core
Wednesday: 30' @ 4:06 + 40' @ 4:27
Thursday: 8 x 4' @ 3:25
Friday: 14 km (London)
Saturday: 40' @ 4:00
Sunday: 25 km in 1:51 (4:27) + core
+ achilles, Powerbreathe (virtually) every day
Total kilometers: 82
The training week got off to an early start on Tuesday as I decided to beat the sun out of bed and get my workout done on the track before breakfast. In spite of my GPS being all over the place, I was able to hit the rhythm on the dot, completing circuits of the 350m in 1:24 (15 kph) and 1:18 (16 kph) respectively. At lunchtime, I was back on the track to do my plyometrics: 3 sets of all the exercises from this article except that I only had one "box" (actually a bench) and no hurdles so I did tuck jumps instead. I had hoped to at least get two sessions of plyometrics in this week but with the extra complications associated with having a trip to London, I only managed one.
Feeling encouraged by the relative ease of my workout the previous day, I rather ambitiously decided to run for an hour around the track at lunchtime at an easy pace. That easy pace turned out to be a bit too fast for the midday heat - I enjoy the feeling of running fast much more than plodding - so I ended up cutting it short to only half an hour. My treadmill with the broken board had already been fixed so I figured I would try it out that evening and make up the rest of the kilometers. Amazingly, after ringing up only the Friday previous, the new board arrived on Tuesday and a technician was able to install it the next day. Just in time for my interval training...
 |
| Here's where my foot has broken through the board that runs under the belt |
.JPG) |
| Spot the London Eye |
I got back to Madrid just in time for lunch and did my 40 minute run on the treadmill before going out to a friend's 20th wedding anniversary celebration. Just as one should try to avoid going shopping when hungry, it is not a good idea to go to an event with a free bar when one is very thirsty after working out. I paid for it the next day with a terrific hangover which resisted 3 paracetamols and meant that I had to postpone my long run until later that evening; I had planned to run it on tired legs in the morning. For the first time since my last Marathon, I managed to get into the groove and it didn't feel too long or boring - maybe not listening to music actually helped me zone out. I went along an old route that I hadn't been on for some time - the one I used to use to commute to work before the Oriols fenced most of the area off. Most of the fences have been removed and not as the result of vandalism so I am very happy about that. It is a beautiful area only a few minutes away from my house where you can really lose yourself. In fact, the first time I ran there (before I even knew that GPS watches existed) I did exactly that and arrived home to find the car that I had booked to take me to the airport for my flight to Mexico, already there waiting for me...
There is only one thing that I can say that I like about running in summer and that is that I can jump straight in the pool afterwards to cool off. I suppose it is a bit unhygenic to jump in still in my running kit but it's my swimming pool and I'll do what I want to! My youngest son loves seeing me do this for some reason so I always make sure to call him first.
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