• January 5th - 11th

Sunday is the big one. so during the week we keep it relatively light. I’ve put the stair stepper in their again as hopefully you can then feel the benefits of that up the hills on Sunday. No real need to be smashing out any significant speed work over the next 3-4 weeks. We’d feel silly if you picked up a muscle strain doing short reps with an ultra so soon. Any issues let me know. Keep up the great work Joe.

167 Points Achieved

Another good week ticked off, albeit with a couple of sessions not completed. Feeling in a good place right now. I find tapering hard, as I’m not very good at doing less, but I know it’s for the best

You’re on 103% of your training right now. So come SDW50 if it doesn’t go well, it will mainly be my fault or something going wrong on the day. Knowing that should take the pressure off. You’re doing all you can, and that’s the most important thing. Keep smashing the training mate.

MONDAY

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Rest Day

0 POINTS

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

2 Points
I was bored at home, so I did a little bonus core session: 3 x 90 secs planks 3 x 30 sit ups
😂 Nice, saves you doing them later in the week. 2pts banked. Which is a bit harsh and 90s planks are tough.

TUESDAY

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22pts | 75 Mins Run

22 POINTS

75 Mins @ Easy Pace (RPE: 3)

Nice and easy!! Why 75 mins and not 60? To hit that training load target and ensure your plan is as consistent, week in week out as possible, to reduce that risk of injury.

22 Points
Jeez, that was bloody freezing this morning. Another one I can call back to mentally, when times are tough in the ultras, as that took a lot just to get out of bed and get dressed😂. Nice to see the HR at 132 for a pace of 8:50 min/mile…nice sign of my fitness improving
Respect 🥶 Mental toughness is such a huge part of being a strong ultra running and right now you are adding to that with almost every single run. Well done Joe.

WEDNESDAY

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29pts | 6 Miles @ Marathon Pace

29 POINTS

1 Mile WU @ Easy Pace (RPE: 3)

6 Miles @ Marathon Pace (RPE: 5)

1 Mile CD @ Easy Pace (RPE: 3)

A chance to add some extra miles at Marathon Pace. The more you practice the pace the more comfortable it will feel on race dace.

29 Points
That was good fun! Maybe slightly on the quick side, as I don’t think I’d maintain that pace over marathon distance, but it’s certainly what I’d like to aim towards in the future. Felt comfortable for the first 4 miles. Nice for it to be slightly milder and to be able to wear shorts!
I do always have a look at splits when there’s a target pace involved, hence my Strava comment. But if you feel good why not push the pace a little. Hopefully one day that will be your marathon pace and I see no reason why not #feedthequads Great work Joe.

thursday

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I got truly humbled by the elements! Attempted to run to St Leonard’s, as I had somewhere I needed to be in London Road. I got to the Far Eastern end of Bexhill seafront and thought ‘fuck this’, so turned around and went home. It’s good to have a run like that every now and then, especially when training has been going so well. It’s a nice reminder to not get over-confident
Love the honesty, that was pretty nasty out there, sensible decision.

FRIDAY

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12pts | 20 Mins Stair Climber

12 POINTS

A great form of cross trainer for us runners. Take a few minutes to warm up at find your stride but then push hard. You can real bang for your buck with just 20 mins on the stair climber. I hit around level 10 when doing these but find the right speed for you that you can maintain, but you find this tough.

12pts | Joe’s S&C

12 POINTS

Crammed a bit more into 1 session here but now you’ve got a lot of good stuff in there. Hopefully it’s ok?

Got most of the way through the S&C, then had a drop in energy, so hip thrusts, wall sits, calf raises, planks and sit ups were not done. However, I did 25 minutes on the stair stepper, which was 137 floors!
No worries. If you get the chance over the weekend, most of those missing exercises you can smash out at home. I do love that Stair Climber. I’ve got up to 30 mins but only at a steady pace (level 10). Jax mentioned it to her osteopath who said when he was training for a big ultra event he did 90 mins a day on the Stair machine for 40 days in a row 🤯 Don’t worry I’m not going to suggest that but it does reassure me we are doing the right thing by including it in the plan.

SATURDAY

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Rest Day

0 POINTS

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

For the first day in quite a while, I did absolutely bugger all, which was delightful. I sat on the sofa for most of the day…lovely! Haha
Rest days are training days too and as you lay there on the sofa the body is adapting, repairing itself and getting stronger for the weeks ahead.

SUNDAY

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63pts | 210 Mins Run

63 POINTS

210 Mins @ Easy Pace (RPE: 3-7)

This is a long time to be out running, so ensuring you have enough water and fuel is vital. Plot your route carefully.

63 Points
A very tough run on the Downs today. Muddy, soft and slippery underfoot, and very windy. Legs felt a little tired still from Friday’s gym session, but that’s ok, as I want my legs to get used to running when they’re tired. Tried full length compression socks for the first time, which seemed alright….they better be for 30 quid 😂.
30 quid for socks, what has the world come to? I’m sure I still think prices should be the same as 20 years ago, but everything seems very expensive these days. I always seek out bargains as a result. Our date day involved walking into two, taking advantage of Pizza Express £1 pizza offer and using gift cards and vouchers to buy myself some stuff 😂 Let’s get back on track, the run? Definitely good to run on tired legs from time to time and you don’t want all of these runs to feel great, you need to experience the struggles in training as well, so when they arrive on race day you are ready! Great work Joe and appreciate the kind comment on Strava!