• 27th April - 3rd May

I think we need to respect the demands of Sunday’s 10 miler, hence why the 2nd run is only 30 mins. But we do some really good gym work during the week, which will be maintaining your strength and rebuilding your aerobic fitness. I love the legs/stair workout because I feel so strong walking out the gym. We could always switch 20 mins on the stairs for 30 mins on the elliptical if you wanted variety but I prefer the stairs. Any problems let me know. All the best for Sunday.

92 Points Achieved

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!”

I woke up feeling energetic after being absolutely shattered following the race yesterday. (Andy was too.) It was short but brutal. I did not check Garmin until today and was fairly pleased with my pace – I had thought I’d have some kms over 8mins on that terrain. I rested as much as possible but it was quite a busy day with a fair amount of walking. Legs were 4 or 5/10 painful while on the move.
That’s good to hear you woke up feeling energetic, sorry to hear about your discomfort walking though 😢

TUESDAY

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9pts | 20 Mins Stairs

9 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.

10pts | Sarah Gym Session

10 POINTS

This is a session designed to work the key muscle groups and not inflict more pain on the back. I really hope it works.

19 Points
All elements done ok. Stair stepper – I did not stop for water after 10 mins as usual; HR did not rise as quickly as on previous sessions but occasionally went over 135. Osteopath’s suggestions re my exs – do high planks rather than low; he explained why, checked my form for this and it felt ok. Use KB rather than bar for RDLs. Make sure core/glutes engaged for walking lunges as that move can make your back bend wrong way. I had no pain at all walking to gym but a bit on the way back. 5/10. This was probably more to do with changing from upright to seated to walking, without doing my stretches in between.
A good session though and glad the pain was under control which would suggest we have the appropriate exercises in there right now. I have tweaked the routine to include KB deadlifts and high plank. Great work Sarah!!

WEDNESDAY

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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!”

All good. Quite a bit of walking -PAIN FREE- today but lots of rest too.
So glad you were pain free today and enjoyed your rest day.

thursday

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9pts | 20 Mins Stairs

9 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.

10pts | Sarah Gym Session

10 POINTS

This is a session designed to work the key muscle groups and not inflict more pain on the back. I really hope it works.

19 Points
All exs completed. After gym at home I walked to town for optician’s appointment with no pain but after sitting for the examination I had 2/10 pain for walk to Falaise. Stepping went fine – effort level 8. HR does not rise as quickly as before – does that mean I’m getting fitter?! Forgot to turn watch off though so Garmin record looks weird. Raised HR at end was walking briskly up long flight of steps when tired. Otherwise walk back from gym was ok but v tired on arrival at home.
Fantastic work Sarah. So yes if the HR stays lower at the same level it indicates an improvement in fitness. So what I will do if my HR is hovering around 125-130 is I’ll increase the level. So upped it to 9 the other day and that got my HR up to the high 130s (where I want to be). So it’s a case of keeping an eye on it. You might find some days you need to be level 8, others level 9, to get that HR in the right place. (130-140 is always my target, but again we are all different)

FRIDAY

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9 Points
I was up at 4am to see ‘Dancing up the Dawn’ for 1st May and was a bit apprehensive as it would involve standing for a long time – one of the worst things for causing pain. But – no pain in legs on walking, standing, running. That that was good! I did a very cautious 5k run to end of Bottle Alley and back. On walking up the hill to home I did have some backache but only 2/10. Again, I was very tired on arrival home but have plenty of time to rest before Sunday.
Sorry what time? 😂 I’m impressed. Hope it was lovely up there this morning? And really positive about the lack of pain today. I guess it’s about really enjoying these days when they come along and hopefully if you maintain good fitness there will be more of these than the bad days. Great work Sarah. Early night tonight perhaps.

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!”

I’ve had restful day so far, just a walk to the shops and minor gardening/cooking. Off to catch the train soon for stopover with Andy in Haywards Heath ready for the race tomorrow.
Ah lovely. A much more relaxed way of doing a race like that. Have a lovely trip. Look forward to hearing all about it.

SUNDAY

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58pts | 10 Mile Race

58 POINTS

WU is key. CD not as important, but if you have done a fast 10 miles it’s recommended. Also if going for a quick one including drills and strides (4 bonus pts) is worth while too.

Knowing your goal pace beforehand is important and ensuring you don’t go off too quick is crucial. Obviously that will be determined by the elevation of the route. But I’m always happy to discuss pacing strategies and race tactics beforehand.

Good Luck!! You got this 💪

45 Points
2/5/26 – Just so I don’t forget again – weighed on Sat at 55.7 kg – will do full report tomorrow. 3/5/26 – Haywards Heath 10 miles – done. It was so much more relaxing staying overnight, then sauntering to race start with no sitting on train or in car, which always activates my stenosis pain. Warm up was 1 km walk, 1 km run, at 2km I did some drills (could not remember all those Simon recommends but did that kind of low walk with hands swooping, high knees, butt kicks and sideways gallops, all about 60 metres.) I stopped my watch to chat to a marshal but forgot to turn it back on for a while. Realised it was getting late and I was a little bit lost so ran like headless chicken but luckily found my way to the start in time. And all pain free! However, I caved again and took 1 dose paracetamol ‘just in case.’ It was a race of two halves: during the first lap, I was floating up the hills, smelling the flowers, hearing the birdsong and woodpecker drumming, easily overtaking a few people including someone who appeared possibly in my age group. I was feeling blissful! ‘Just a training run’ was my mantra. ‘Keep it like this for next lap….’ For the second lap, however, all changed! Those hills had somehow become longer and steeper so I walked much more; by 7 miles I felt lightheaded and nauseous; the person poss in my age group overtook me and I congratulated her but had no will to try and keep up. The heat was really ramping up – could I be dehydrated? Lots of walking now, so very slow, but I did manage a sprint to finish before collapsing. A kindly person gave me Jaffa cake and water and I soon revived. I was 15 mins approx slower than last year! But I was much fitter then and I’m not used to ‘racing’ 10 miles (I was not racing but it was an event.) 1:56 approx. I thoroughly enjoyed the first half and endured the second. First in age group though – YAY! …… but I was the only one in my age group lol
Ah well done Sarah. Such an enjoyable read, I always love your race feedback. I think it’s always good to take the positives and that was coming in well under 2 hours and feeling strong with such little pain to begin with. It’s probably just a lack of preparation that made it feel more challenging, but there is no reason as the plan progresses we can’t build that aerobic base again and get you back running that bit quicker. Although does that need to be the goal? Staying fit and running has to be the priority. Congrats on finishing first in your age cat. We don’t need to worry about the number of entrants, there is a reason it’s low, because you’re much fitter than people in your age cat. Sounds like a fun weekend overall and something to build on going forward too.