Taking a break and getting faster

I have no idea if other people do this or not but I decided to build 2 break weeks into my half marathon training plan. My first was last week, after week 4, and the second is after week 8. Then the final 4 weeks will take me to those 13.2 miles. I have ages yet till my race so it made sense.

Week 4 had been good and ended with my longest ever run of 11k. During the week I was aware of a few minor niggles,  one low down in my right calf, one in my back and my left shoulder. Nothing major, just an awareness of them. I also found the last km of my LSR challenging, using 30 sec run/walk intervals to get finished. Afterwards I had sore knees and was very tired.

The following day I went for a gentle recovery run. In my last post I was talking about my use of PEL ( perceived effort level). One thing I learned on that recovery run is that your heart and lungs can work at one PEL, in this case just a 6, and your legs at a different one. They were at a 9!

So I welcomed my rest week with open arms. I still cross trained with walking and aquarobics but nothing high impact.

The benefits of this week off were huge. Today I ran 7k and it felt great. All my niggles are gone and I could see a big improvement in my fitness and, consequently, my pace. Hills which 2 weeks ago had to be half-walked were comfortably run up today. I had been concerned I would lose motivation but actually the opposite is true,  I’m raring to go again.

Sunday sees me tackle 14k (8.75miles) for the first time. I think I may need to start adding some mid-run fuelling as this will take me approximately 1hr 45mins. I shall start experimenting to see what I like and works best for me. Wish me luck, I’m slightly daunted.

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