Usually, races and events are on Sundays to take advantage of the quieter roads, but this was a Saturday, so I decided to meet the runners at the club Monday night and go for a run. There was only one turn up and this is the new norm since lockdown, runners have got used to training on their own, we hope more will come back soon.
I made a hilly route, not the ideal after going through what I did but wanted to push myself a little and other runners are training as well, we merged with the top group to make the numbers up and that helps push us along a little too.
It was a good pace all things considered and overall managed 8.9 miles at 8:12 pace.
On Thursday I chose a mostly flat route, my legs were tired, and my left hamstring seems to be lingering with a niggle, Owen who ran with me is only just back from injury so the pair of us set off with a little trepidation and headed off towards Middleton.
Being in Oldham you are never far from a hill, so if you want to have a flat route, you best head towards Manchester, we had a real good natter and he was talking marathons, having never made it to the start line he is reticent about this and stated he probably never will do one. I talked to him as best I could at the pace we were doing and assured him he could, he worries about the commitment of training, which is huge for a marathon!
I will speak with him over the next few weeks, trying to get in any running event is tough with what's been going on and it may take some time for things to settle.
This put me back into my own thoughts of my training plan for the rest of the year, there are still 3 big events I am trying to complete, raising money for SarcoidosisUK and the next one is a week away now.
On the 23rd of May, I attempt the medium route of the Tour of the Peaks, a beautiful route but gruesome with two huge climbs. Winnats Pass is steep but I don't mind as long as it is constant with sudden 20% spikes, they sap me!
The second KOM (King of the Mountain) is the Cat and Fiddle, this is a hill that takes you out of Macclesfield and there is a pub called the "Cat and Fiddle" which gives its name to the ascent, not that I will have the time nor inclination to stop for a pint!
The route itself is hilly and this will my biggest cycling challenge to date, I have done longer rides but on very flat routes.
I hope very much to finish the event, in the last few miles, you pass through Youlgreave, which I recently discovered that my 3 times great grandmother was born there in 1807 (Family History is a passion of mine) so just an extra motivator to pass through it.
My training is a bit hit and miss so took a few days off and on Sunday we visited Moel Famau in North Wakes for a walk up the mountain, I love the ascent up through the trees and the views from the peak are stunning
In the evening I set the bike up on the turbo and did a favourite session in Zwift, there is nothing now I can do to get my legs ready for next Sunday's Tour of the Peaks, there is a simple notion that it is 3 weeks before you see any adaption from a tough session. So for the week ahead, I will use the turbo to just keep my fitness ticking over and be ready.
So my challenge now is to plan my training to get the graph to smoothly show an increase in fitness until the Manchester Marathon in October!
I am nearly at 50% of my target to raise £500 for SarcoidosisUK, if you can donate please visit
Thank you for reading, keep safe
Mark
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