• December 1st - 7th

Another strong week with 120pts the target. That’s a good level to be working at. The key to the hill session is picking a gradient which isn’t too challenging and prevents you running with good form. And don’t worry about pace, just lasting the 2 mins up a hill is enough work. Any problems let me know, but right now at this time of the calendar it’s about “showing up” and ticking off the sessions. Our results in March/April are determined quite a lot by this base phase.

120 Points Target

Was p*ssed off at start of week as knee was playing up. Really wanted to try hit 100%. But think I salvaged it as well as in could of done by the end of weekend. Parkrun and getting the Hill workout done are pleasing.

It’s tough when things go against you, but you’ve knuckled down and finished strongly. Sometimes it’s a little annoying not to hit the targets but this could easily have been a 10 or 20% week had you let it get you down, but you didn’t, so that’s great. It’s often how we do in our bad weeks that can make a big difference. So excellent work Andy.

MONDAY

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Pilates

10 POINTS

Always a good session to work on flexibility and strength.

0 Points
Struggled with knee pain early in the week. Think it was an arthritis flare up again. Happens more in the cold. Couldn’t fit this in later in week unfortunately
Really sorry to hear that. I’m not sure what the best advice is regarding that. Other than just keeping warm. I’m a big fan of long johns at this time of year. Basically where them every day under my other trousers. In fact when I coach in the evenings I’ll be wearing 3 pairs with my waterproofs on top 🤦‍♂️😂

TUESDAY

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WEDNESDAY

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Circuits

15 POINTS

Always fun to train in a group. Ask for help if unsure on your technique on the exercises.

Missed this. Was delayed getting home from work. Plus knee was still painful so may not have done it anyway
Perhaps adding some mobility stretches during the work days could help 🤔

thursday

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40 Mins & Strides

16 POINTS

40 Mins @ Easy Pace (RPE: 3)

8 x 100 metre Strides (RPE: 8)
60 Second Recoveries

Keep the 40 mins easy and don’t forget those strides. Without them you won’t improve and will fall short of your weekly targets.

TR 50%
Run club. Knee felt miraculous better so went to club. Pace was a little higher than my target but managed it OK. Still harder work than id of like but getting back into it. Skipped the strides though just to be safe on the knee
Well done Andy, really pleased the knee felt better and you were able to get out and run. Sensible to miss the strides on this occasion

FRIDAY

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Rest Day

0 POINTS

0 mins @ RPE 0-1

“Rest days are key. Our body adapts and gets stronger when we rest & recovery. Have a good one!”

SATURDAY

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parkrun

30 POINTS

10 Mins WU @ Easy Pace (RPE: 3)
8 x 100 metre Strides (RPE: 8)

parkrun @ 5km Pace (RPE: 8)

10 Mins CD @ Easy Pace (RPE: 3)

Running with others can reduce perceived effort so parkrun is a good option as an alternative speed session. 10 mins easy WU & CD please.

TR 60%
Really enjoyed parkrun. Purposely picked one that wasn’t hilly. Gave myself the target of being under 32mins but started fast and felt good so tried to see if I could maintain it for the sub30. Pleased I managed too. Nice confidence boost 😀. Again, couldn’t fit the strides in due to being very busy at the start and short on time. But did WU and CD
Excellent work Andy, so pleased you enjoyed it and managed to get back under the sub 30 mark again. If strides are not always possible you could do them afterwards, or add some extra onto the WU & CD to get those missing points. But a really positive outcome here. Great job.

SUNDAY

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90 Mins

27 POINTS

90 Mins @ Easy Pace (RPE: 3)

Keep this nice and easy. Focus on good form & efficient running economy. RPE should be around the 3/10 which means you can run and chat.

8 x 2 Mins Hill Reps

26 POINTS

Big session this! But ideal if you have a hilly race coming up. Focus on good form and don’t go off too hard in rep 1, let the hill make it tough. Good luck! You got this. Run tall & proud.

40 Points
TR 60%
Did our traditional run club Xmas run to the city centre. There’s a big Xmas display (a Christmas Carol) in the large windows of Fenwicks department store. This was run as one group, at the pace for everyone. So a little slower than target for me but good to get 45mins in. I didn’t do any extra because I wanted to do the hill session later. Hill session was very tough, hill probably a bit too steep. But really pleased for getting out there and getting it done, on a miserable rainy cold Sunday night after 8pm. Happy with my efforts today
You know what, there are times in life we need to be a bit arrogant and getting out there on a Sunday night to work hard and put in a session like that makes you better than all those lazy people who do nothing to look after their fitness. So give yourself some real credit for that and even say “you know what, I am better than others”. Excellent work Andy. A really good days work and a superb finish to the week.