I did a couple of very short runs this week and one for about 6 miles. I also did a couple of pool sessions and now I feel back to normal. No aches and pains at all. Very happy with the recovery. I told the wife last night that I want to run the London to Brighton and she thought I was mad. She may well have a point but the more I think about it the more I want to do it. I'm going to put my entry in on Monday.

It's funny how different people do different mileages. Last year I training up to almost 60 miles a week in preparation for Beachy Head. I felt over-trained and didn't run particularly well on the day. This year I was nursing an injury and ran far less, yet ran so much better at Beach Head. Perhaps it's because I'm approaching 40 but I find that I get more out of my running with more time off from it. For example, my peak training week looks like this: Mon - 11 mile run at Lactate Threshold (run on the way to work) Tues - 1 hour swim Wed - 40 min swim in the morning, long run in the evening (20+ miles) Thurs - 7-8 mile trail run Fri - 11 mile run (possibly) at Lactate Threshold (run on the way to work) Sat - rest Sun - rest In addition as I work in Islington and my train gets into Liverpool St station I almost always run to and from work. That adds on a little more and means I probably run another 5 or 6 times a week but for only 1.5 miles. Total mileage is probably around 50 miles. But this is a peak week. Most weeks would be shorter (but not by much) That's the most I manage and it fits in perfectly with commuting into London every day and spending time with my family.

I have two rules..... 1. Always enjoy your run. If you're forcing yourself to do it, then don't. Leave it for a day and then get your motivation back for the next one. 2. Never ever ever be a slave to a schedule or a mileage plan. There lies madness. I'm not an elite athlete. I have loads of other things going on in my life and getting worked up because something got in the way of a training run is not healthy. Don't get me wrong though. If I plan to run, then generally I do. But not obsessively. (Well not in my mind. In guess in most other peoples it would be though) My Wednesday (which is my long run day) does get slightly crazy. I find that I can't get the most out of my evening run if I have run in the morning so the cross-training in the pool works well. Then I can get out in the evening and put some real mileage in. Often I'll get home way past 11pm and wont get to bed until midnight. I love nighttime training though. Luckily for me I generally work from home on a Thursday so I don't have to trek into London the day after my long run. The idea of the swimming, by the way, is to allow be to train cardiovascular without any stress to my legs. It gives me a great workout and I'm effectively resting my legs. I hope the swimming will be the facet I've missed in previous years that will take my training to the next level.