Tom Roper's Running Training

Five weeks to go

 

I write this later than I should, but by Sunday just gone I had five weeks left to go, and had done another run that covered a distance greater than I had run at any time since June of last year. It was surprisingly easy, in spite of cold grey weather and a bit of mud on the ground, and I ran for around an hour and twenty minutes, True I only covered 6 miles, but that’s not the point. 

 

Total mileage this week (Monday to Sunday): 10.93
35 days (on Sunday) till the Brighton half

A week of runs at sunset

This week went reasonably well. I ran three times, as required by the training programme, culminating in 4.9 miles today. The last time I ran as far as that was in June of last year. For some reason, all my outings took place close to sunset, and the sunsets have been spectacular this week. One can barely move on the seafront for people photographing the disc as it drops below the horizon. Talking to one of the parkrun volunteers, he told me he hoped to see the green ray. It reminded me of the Rohmer film, which I must watch again. 

Total mileage this week: 9.58

42 days till the Brighton half: 

Training for an accidental half marathon

Whether I had drink taken, or had an episode of memory loss, I cannot say, but I apparently entered the Brighton Half. I discovered this when I decided to volunteer to marshal the event, and on registering was told I also had a place to run. 

It may be a tall order to compress half-marathon training into eight weeks, but I thought I would: I haven’t run a half since the much harder Seaford Half in 2019, but I’ve run nearly thirty in my time. It can be done, and the first week of training began with two very short sessions, followed by today’s slightly longer run. All went well. The sensations of running were strange at first, but I got used to them. On to next week

Total mileage this week: 6.65 
49 days till the Brighton half: 

2021 in running

I was feeling unhappy with 2021 as a running year: few races, but then that’s true for everyone, and I had to do Couch to 5k twice to get back from injury, as well as leading the Seaford Striders C25K group. In fact, I increased both distance and elevation, compared to 2020. 

The first part of the year was quiet; my running club, Seaford Striders, valiantly organised distanced events and competitions to keep us going. From April onwards we resumed our evening club nights, but in multiple groups at different locations around Seaford, and the Club Grand Prix started, though I only took part in six qualifying events. Parkrun returned in July, but I have run few, and volunteered at more. I ran four Twitten runs, including the Twiathlon, which adds twelve lengths of the Pells Pool to the twelve twittens. The only real race I ran was the King’s Head Canter in August; I did not disgrace myself. 

I ended the year with a stupid foot injury, caused by stubbing my toe on the sink. Six weeks, the magic period, have passed and I will set out for my first run since November on Monday. I have a place in the Brighton Half on 27th February; I entered, and then forgot I’d entered, so must compress training into the next eight weeks. But I am confident I can train enough to get round.