It’s been a hard week’s training and mentally tough too. I felt really tired at times this week and do wonder if I’m suffering from a bit of over training. It’s hard to know. I tried my best to create a plan that was progressive but also had rest days and recovery weeks. However, I’ve also been under a time constraint for this “event” from the beginning.

Training up for 70km day runs back to back (carrying all the kit and weight) plus training up to road bike further than I personally have in a few years and with quite a few burrmps on the way (as Peter Sellers would say) – well it sometimes feels like an impossible task.

This week felt like that. I ran with the backpack for the second time on Tuesday and pushed myself to run a bit faster and more ‘up’. I should add to this that when you have 6-12kg on your back – its hard to do a normal run (the greater that figure the more true that is). Your upwards momentum just isn’t there without physically feeling like you’re doing a crazy hard HIIT workout, being asked to jump onto a bench carrying a large kettlebell.

So instead you resort to keeping your feet low to the ground and jogging with minimal up and down movement. This results in a considerably slower speed I might add but it does minimise hip pain, knee pain and any discomfort to your back from the rucksack.

So there I was on Tuesday and I thought to myself. Today is supposed to be the one day a week where I work harder/go faster, get my heart rate up more. So it seemed logical to try and actually “run” with the backpack rather than doing the shuffle jog thing. It was really hard work and I could definitely feel it. By the end of my run my hips and glutes felt every bit like they had been pushing me around the hilly trail 10km route I’d planned.

On Wednesday I did my slow recovery jog in the lunch hour at work. Phew that felt much easier! After work I went to see my PT (personal trainer) and she gave me a really hard workout to do. I mean thats what I pay for of course. At the time though I do sometimes think, just 20 mins more to go……because yes its just that hard.

She tends to interweave HIIT movements like mountain climbers, jumping jacks into low squats with heavy weight workouts. I also do a lot of balance work. One memorable one is where I balance on the Bosu ball on my bottom with legs off the floor outstretched and leaning back slightly. At the same time as holding this balance with your core I have to throw a 5kg medicine ball at a trampoline and catch it. I do so love her creativity – it keeps it interesting.

On Thursday I ended up having a second rest day of the week as I’d not slept well and simply didn’t have the willpower to bike to work (and back). I figured this would at least enable me to be fighting fit for my crazy weekend of long runs and bikes. Hmmm.

On Friday I threw the idea of my road biking session out the window as it was forecast to rain quite a tad. For me rain just screams ‘mountain bike’. So off I set on a hillier route than usual although it was only 36km. I puffed my way around finding the hilly bits harder than usual although I did massively enjoy myself (got to love the MTB).

On Saturday I once again moved the idea of my road bike session back a day as once again the weather was forecast to be bad and Sunday looked great (they got it wrong by the way). Not having the time to do a hike this weekend I decided in my absolute wisdom….sorry insanity….that if I run with my weighted backpack and go a bit further then thats like doing my run and my hike together. Hmmm.

I can honestly say I was not feeling it right from the beginning. I am much slower with the rucksack as explained above but I was only managing 6.5km an hour. Honestly on a good day I could probably just about hike at that pace. On top of this I just felt tired despite the slow pace. By the end of my 25km I felt quite depleted of energy and it didn’t do my confidence much good either. How can I cover 70km in a day when 25km is that hard?

Finally today I was up early and ready for my 4 hour big hilly road bike. Only I wasn’t physically in the right place at all. My tight hips and glutes had returned and I felt so tired I could of quite happily just gone back to bed. I dithered for a while, frustrated at the situation and eventually decided I had to at least do an hour on my road bike. So I went and did our nearby ‘up and over’ as we call it. It’s pretty hilly for such a short ride. Ride done I punished myself with a gruelling 50 minutes of core and arm work in the gym.

So yes I did do 11.5 hours this week but it wasn’t the 15 hours I’d planned and moreover I’m just feeling quite behind in terms of where I’d like to be at this point. I’d ideally be riding 100km a week and running 50km a week. But thats just not viable given where I am now.

I need to psyche myself up a bit. I did JOGLE off the back of just 4 runs a week and the longest was only ever 30km. So anything is possible, its just in my mind.

This coming week will be another build i.e. hard week. I intend to focus in on the road bike as a priority, even if it means sacrificing the long run. I’ll then focus on the long run the following week. See how that goes. Now then weather be kind 🙂 ☀️