• November 3rd - 9th

Hopefully the legs are happy with you again now and you’re ready to kick on with a decent week. If you can’t make Tuesday, a quick parkrun Saturday would be an option. If you ever wanted to plug your gym routine into the dashboard let me know as I can now create a separate page for that which you can have access to and edit if you wanted. Keep up the great work Alice.

115 Points Target
122 Points Achieved

I have had a bit of a think and a good chat with Dex. I feel like I’m in a toxic relationship with running at the moment😂. The past year has been so frustrating and I’ve tried my hardest to keep pushing though and staying positive. I’ll have a good run and then 3 which just feels awful. I know that I’m overthinking everything and tensing up so then things feel worse. I had a great time at track on Tuesday and loved the ultra but feels like my body is paying for it later on in the week. I feel that the only way for me to break the cycle I’m in with running is to make a change and the only thing I haven’t tried is not to run for a solid period….the whole time I’ve been injured I’ve continued to run. Even though I’ve kept it easy I’ve not had more than about 12 days where I haven’t been for a run. I think I’m so afraid of losing my fitness that I’ve been too scared to give it up completely. Now I feel like I’m stunting my progression by not taking a proper step back and focusing on letting my body fully heal and building a solid foundation.

I think I’ve decided that I need to take the time between now and the New Year to not run at all and focus on my strength work and cross training. That gives me 6/7 weeks to just take all the pressure off, change my mind set and hopefully break the cycle of neverending niggles and discomfort.

I know my best times are ahead of me and I’m still so adamant that 2026 will be a year of PBs for me, but I don’t feel I’m giving myself a good shot at that if I don’t fix what’s broken.

Firstly well done this week. 122pts banked which is a good amount and I really appreciate your feedback and I think it’s a good idea. Sorry as I will again talk about myself here (feel like I do that way too much) but the last week has opened up my eyes to the effect running can have on our body as also the benefit of cross training. Simply because each time I tried to run last week, I last max 15 mins. Yet on the bike and elliptical I was able to push hard with no pain at all, and in fact my knee pain was better. Whether it is helping me or hindering me I’m not sure. I’ll support you in whatever decision you make. I think given I have no input in your S&C, there’s no real need for you to be on a plan still, unless you find the feedback and having the sessions scheduled out helpful. My plan this week is simply S&C, Elliptical and spin, so if you did want to continue in that vein, fine, if not, let me know and then we can pick back up in January and I’ll discount that month given you’ve already paid for November. Either way I’m fine. I’ve got probably half a dozen of the team taking a short break right now and coming back in the new year, so you’re not the only one in this situation. I think you should be able to maintain your fitness quite well if you can use the bike, elliptical and pool for 3-4 sessions of cardio per week. I guess it just depends on how much of a rest you feel the body needs. I’m waffling now anyhow. Let me know what your plans are and I’ll support them either way. Hopefully long term this will make the difference.(and from this moment on you’re going to see a lot more cross training on my Strava feed as well).

MONDAY

Loading...

Gym Workout 💪

15 POINTS

Keep the gym stuff simply and always ensure any changes are small.

10 Points
TR 70%
We were still in the midlands so this was just a 20 mins bodyweight session at home, but I got in done
Well done Alice. All about making the best out of the situation you are in. A good start to the week.

TUESDAY

Loading...

20 x 1 Minute Reps

24 POINTS

10 Mins WU @ Easy Pace RPE: 3
20 x 60 Seconds @ Fast Pace RPE: 9
(60 Second Recoveries)
10 Mins CD @ Easy Pace RPE: 3

Don’t go off too fast as 20 reps is a lot. You should feel like you’re working at a very high effort level towards the last 15 seconds of each rep. Go get ’em!

24 Points
TR 75%
Really enjoyed that. It was such a good confidence boost. I found it tough but tried my best to stick with Lindsey. Really pleased with how well my fitness has maintained and excited to see what will happen once i’ve got a few more sessions under my belt. Hoping that the strength work i’ve been doing while injured and focusing on my weaknesses will really help with my speed.
So pleased you enjoyed that and was great to watch you all working so hard. Really helpful to have that focal point in Lindsey and keep as close as you can. Ideally if you can get to more of these if work allows then definitely try and take that opportunity. Especially if Lindsey is running too. Awesome work Alice.

WEDNESDAY

Loading...

60 Mins & Strides 🏃‍♀️

22 POINTS

60 Mins @ Easy Pace RPE: 3
8 x 100m Strides RPE: 8 (60s)

Keep the RPE down, have a chit chat & Don’t forget those strides 😜

37 Points
TR 70%
Made it to the Horntye run. I’d popped to the gym at lunchtime so legs were quite heavy but good to be out with people. My HRV status hasn’t recovered since the ultra and still sitting in very low so keeping and eye on it and trying to get 2 rest days in.
Excellent work, a big day then with both sessions ticked off. Great work Alice. Yeah always good to keep a watchful eye on them, although unless wearing an external monitoring device I would always be wary of how accurate the watch data is.. Glad you were able to run with the group though as I know what a difference that can make.

thursday

Loading...

FRIDAY

Loading...

Gym Workout 💪

15 POINTS

Keep the gym stuff simply and always ensure any changes are small.

60 Mins Swim

18 POINTS

60 Mins Swimming @ Easy Pace (RPE: 3)

It’s said that 1 minute of swimming has the same benefit as 1 minute of running. So a nice 60 minute swim replaces an easy run and takes away any impact. Ideal if you are struggling a little with injury.

33 Points
TR 50%
Put these together so I could get that extra rest day yesterday. Got some plyometrics in at the gym and a good swim session. Training readiness and HRV status is still low
Great work Alice. I think the low TR and HRV just highlights how demanding an Ultra or a marathon can be. But hopefully we’ve been smart enough with the plan and not pushed too hard that you are heading in the right direction. Any day you can bank over 30pts is a good one though.

SATURDAY

Loading...

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!”

SUNDAY

Loading...

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.

18 Points
TR 50%
I got to 60 mins and I felt ok but my calf was a bit funky the whole time and I felt that I was changing my form so I stopped. It’s so frustrating as things had felt much more enjoyable this week up till now but my calf has been a bit niggly since the ultra and I’m anxious about pulling it.
Sensible decision. It’s difficult to know how something like an Ultra will effect you so it’s definitely a time to be smart and keep it lighter if need be. I’m finding cross training is a godsend right now so perhaps if the legs stay tight for a bit you could chuck in a bit of cardio in the gym. Elliptical is pretty much 1:1 and a great alternative. Something I’m going to explore going forward as a way of trying to add more training pts to my schedule without running more. It clearly makes a big difference as I could only run for 10 mins last week before pain set in, but comfortable smash out 40 mins cross training with no pain at all.