Another month rolls on by, and I certainly finish feeling more positive than I did at the end of February!
Heading for Pillar on a Leg 4 Recce. I cannot wait to be back here on the actual run.
1st - Fell Run - 18.83km - 1200m ascent. An amazing run despite having done 150 jump squats in just 10 minutes at circuits the night before. Rating - A.
2nd - Scafell Pike hiking - 15.6km - 900m ascent - with weighted pack. Rating - B
3rd - All body workout - 1 hour - Rating - A
4th - Scafell Pike hiking - 15km - 900m ascent - with weighted pack, Rating - A
5th - Leg 4 of the BG from Honister - 27km - 2200m ascent - First long run in a while but it felt pretty reasonable. Rating - B
6th - Work Day Hiking - 15km - 1100m ascent - Legs felt pretty tired after the week I've had. Pretty tired by the end of this overall! Rating - C/ B.
7th - LMG PT Circuits - A hard, all body workout session with plenty of running in to. Rating - B
8th - 5km trail walk with the pram - 141m ascent
9th - 29km Fell and Trail run - 1500m ascent - A pretty tough day on some steep slopes. Felt tired so obviously hadn't recovered too well. Rating - C
10th - 26km Trail Run - 162m ascent - Could have easily given up in the first 10 mins, but cracked on. Ended up feeling really great! Rating - A
11th - Scafell Pike Work Hike - 9km - 909m ascent - Rating - C - legs felt dead!
12th - Mountain Skills Course - 9.5km - 773m ascent - Rating - B
13th - Mountain Skills Course - 8.1km - 530m ascent - Rating B
14th - All body Circuit training - 1 Hour - Rating B
15th - Road Biking - 30km - 520m ascent - 1 hour 20 - Rating A
16th - All body Circuit Training - 1 Hour - Rating C
17th - 5km Trail Run - My body felt shot. I had originally hoped to do a big run on this day but felt sluggish. I finally got out but wished I hadn't. I had hoped to do more but called it off. Rating - E (technically an unfinished session - the first!)
18th - (AM) 13km cycle with the kids along the coast. Very easy pace - Rating A
18th - (PM) 30km Road Cycle - Somehow my body felt rejuvenated compared to the previous day so went out for a social ride (90 mins). -520m ascent. Rating - A
19th - Hike - Just 2km as part of filming for work
20th - Trail Run - 3.8km - 550m ascent. Rating - A
21st - (AM) Work Hike - 11km - 600m ascent - Rating B
21st (PM) 1 Hour All body Circuit Session - Rating B
22nd (AM) Blencathra work Hike - 11km - 1213m ascent - Rating A
22nd (PM) Speed Session Run - 5.6km - 140m ascent - Smashed it, loads of PB's, felt ace! Rating - A
23rd - 33km Trail Run taking in all of Skiddaw's Wainwright summits - 2067m ascent - Rating A/B
24th - Upper Body Workout - 30 minutes - Rating B
25th - Interval Session on Sale Fell - 7km - 316m ascent - 10 x 60 second efforts, with 60 second rest. Followed by normal running to finish the circuit. Rating - A
26th - Navigation Training Course - 9km - 437m ascent - Rating - B
27th (AM) - Work Hike - 12km - 538m ascent - Rating A
27th (PM) - Road Ride - 14km - 213 ascent - A quick blast of 35 minutes, felt really good. Rating - A.
28th - Rest Day
29th - (AM) Weighted Hike (Carrying Finnley) 2.5km - 220m ascent - Rating - B
29th (PM) Leg Stability and Core Workout - 30 Mins - Rating - A
30th - Work Walk (Flat) 10km - Rating - A
31st - Rest Day
Personal Stats at the start of March
Weight: 82.05kg Muscle Mass: 65.3kg Body Fat: 16.2%
Estimated VO2 Max - 46.0
Personal Stats at the end of March
Weight: 81.4kg Muscle Mass: 64.9kg Body Fat: 16.1%
Estimated VO2 Max - 45.9
February's Totals
Running: 11.5 Hours, 92.5km
Hiking: 52 Hours, 102km
Workouts (Circuits or Home Workouts): 7.1 Hours, 9 Sessions
Indoor Cycling: 1 Hour 20 mins, 31km.
Total ascent: 8,335m
Total Hours: 71.5 Hours
Total Calories: 35,373
March's Totals
Running: 25 Hours, 156km
Hiking: 60 Hours, 133km
Workouts (Circuits or Home Workouts): 6 Hours, 7 Sessions
Cycling: 6 Hours, 89km.
Total ascent: 17,700m
Total Hours: 97 Hours
Total Calories: 48,197
My Summary of my Training Month
Compared to February, March was a great training month. Was it the best training month it could have been? No. As I type this now (31st March) I'm recovering from a cold and haven't run since last Friday. I do have the pressure of a heavy week supporting James Gibson next week as he takes on the Wainwrights so I thought I'd best play it safe on the exertion side of things.
I've managed to get some good runs in this month, but I've struggled with linking back to back good weeks of training. I seem to be able to give it all the beans one week, and then the following week I'm quite tired. I've been on the hill a fair bit with work too, which as I've bleated on about is great training, but of course the energy for this needs to come out of the same pot. I think at times this month I've neglected this fact a bit and probably overloaded it. For one run this month I actually binned it off and got back to the car as quickly as I could. I was struggling to even get out of the door, but pushed myself to try. I really wish I hadn't bothered in the end. Other than this, when I have been out I've felt pretty good, but some of these sessions were maybe meant to be longer in planning, but I've decided to just do something shorter.
My little niggles such as the Achilles and ankle injury feel better than ever. I think this is partially down to the fact that the road bike has made an appearance and I've managed to get some great impact free cardio in. My legs have felt really strong on my bike, stronger than ever really.
For a while now I've been thinking that the end of April would be a better time to aim for my BGR, and then just a couple of days ago I decided to make it official. I am now set to start on the evening of 27th April. I could probably do with some more preparation, but I know the work season will definitely get in the way and it'll feel like an inconvenience. As it is, I have a week of solid training with James available to me next week, another week in which I can just tick over, and then a week of moderate trekking in Morocco up to 4,100m. After the trek I then have 5 days of rest to recover and prepare, not to mention the fact I'll have some handy acclimatisation to help with some 'marginal gains'.
My mind feels in a great place for this however. I'm keeping it pressure free with regards to an absolute schedule, it'll be 24 hours-ish. Unless my body breaks, I won't be quitting, so the aim is to keep one leg moving in front of the other for 66 miles. I've managed to pull together a support team, to whom I'm super grateful! Some of the folks who have said they'd support me don't even really know me - this is the magic of the BGR! Thanks everyone!!
As above, the general plan for April is:
Kick this cold!
Run 100km across three runs with James over the first week of April
Keep it simple the second week of April
Enjoy Morocco
Complete the Bob Graham Route.
Let's Go!
Running off Hallin Fell on a Wainwright Recce day with James