Round up of my first week of a crazy year

2015 is going to be a crazy hectic year as I’ve set so many goals for myself.

I’ve already got back to some training, but I can’t train outside on my bike at the moment. I’m also not back to swimming yet, so I’ve been doing a lot of running. One goal is to inspire new runners.

I have been focusing on healthy eating. It is really hard when people keep bringing into the office boxes of chocolates and biscuits that they didn’t eat at Christmas. I swear that I’m based in an office full of feeders, but I’m resisting them all! I am tracking my progress with healthy eating using Giveit100. My terrible videos are also appearing on Instagram, as that seems to be the easiest way to upload them to Giveit100

Monday:

10k tempo run with LRR

Tuesday:

1-hour spin with SUTRI (and my first ride on a real bike since before my op! I’m now allowed to commute to work on my bike again, thank goodness!)

Wednesday:

Coaching LRR – which involved doing some squats and some light jogging with some new/returning from injury runners

Thursday:

This was #run2workday. I didn’t feel I could fit in any more running, so I led my first workplace beginners’ running group session. Two of my colleagues came – one of whom is a relatively experienced runner who has had a couple of years off and the other who is a complete novice. The day started with torrential rain, but by the time we went out, the sun was shining and it was gorgeous. We had a fun jog/walk session and I appreciated the opportunity to leave the office and get some fresh air – I must do it more often, as I’m spending too much time at a screen these days.

In the evening, I did a 5000m track session with STC. I started out way too fast but settled down for the second 400m. I was a little way back from a guy who swims in my lane and finally managed to catch up with him at about 2.2km. It was very windy at the track, so I decided to tuck in behind the other runner for 200m to try to conserve energy. It was my slowest km, but I think it helped me in the end as I was feeling tired before I started. At about 4.8km, Donna caught up with me, but I think her shoelace came undone, so in the end, I didn’t have anyone to sprint against.

Hopefully next time there will be a few more runners who are my pace or slightly faster so that I get dragged along. I’m optimistic that I can get another sub-25-minute 5k time again soon.

RunKeeper

When I got home, I received an email from RunKeeper:

• 
  I’m not really sure that I deserve it, but I’ll take it! 🙂
• Friday: This was a rest day… and I was so glad that it was.
• Saturday: I started the day with a parkrun. I love going, but I know that I’m going to have to swap some runs for swims this year. I might alternate until I’ve done my half marathon in April, before switching to swimming almost every week. After Thursday night’s track session, I was feeling quite tired, so I didn’t push too hard and was pleased to finish in 26:37.
  
  In the evening, I made some ‘addictive sweet potato burritos‘… only, I didn’t really make burritos, they were more like tacos as my tortillas were a bit small, so I didn’t fold them up. I liked the recipe and may try them again.

Sunday:

Today was the first of the Marafun training runs as part of the build-up to Southampton Half Marathon. We did an 8.64km run at a 5:33/km pace (but Stuart threw in some killer intervals). I was tired, so it felt hard, but I know I can do this.

Chris was out in town filming the runners – I’m wearing the turquoise calf guards in this video:  https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=1574997442718965

Stubbington 10k

I think next week will be equally busy, especially as it will include my first race of the year: Stubbington 10k.

I’ve run Stubbington 3 times before:

• 2012: 53:03
• 2013: 55:14
• 2014: 55:17

My 10k PB is 51:06 set at Eastleigh in March 2012. At that time, 25:33 was my PB for 5k, and I know I’m faster than that now, so there’s hope that I might be able to squeak a PB at Stubbington (or at least stop my downward trend!)

What have I been reading this week?

• Freeplay – a free online endurance sports magazine for women.
• Why open water swimming is the trend of 2015

This infographic on cycling equipment: