Another week done. 5 days running this week. Which, when you consider it has been a busy week, I’m pretty pleased with. 

• Monday = rest
• Tuesday = 5 miles on the trails at the woods
• Wednesday = rest
• Thursday = 4.5 miles on the treadmill at the gym
• Friday = 5 miles on the trails at the woods
• Saturday = 3.6 miles on the trails at the woods
• Sunday = 5.4 miles on the trails at the woods

My legs have felt very heavy and achy today, which I’m putting down to all the running on the muddy trails at the woods. Also, my feet have felt a bit sore, which I’m putting down to running in the Fivefingers on the stoney ground at the woods. Therefore, I think a bit less trail running next week. 

I’m slowly chipping into the lost miles from when I was transitioning into the Fivefingers. 

WARNING: STATISTICS ALERT!

• 311 miles left to run.
• 98 days until the end of the year.

Which means, on average:

• 3.17 miles per day.
• 22.19 miles per week. 

Definitely doable (I think). 

After last week’s 26+ miles, this week was all about doing much of the same. It ended up looking like this:

• Monday – easy run at the woods with the dog
• Tuesday – gentle run with Helen and the dog at the woods 
• Wednesday – at the gym on the treadmill – fast
• Thursday – rest day
• Friday – at the gym on the treadmill
• Saturday – steady Parkrun and a couple of extra miles
• Sunday – easy run at the woods with the dog

Happy with the week – my legs are slowly starting to feel a bit stronger. In fact, Saturday’s Parkrun, which was my first one for a month or so, was good – did a reasonable 24min – but felt like I could have gone faster. 

Not sure what this week is going to bring – got a fair bit of marking I’ve got to get stuck into, plus an open evening on Wednesday. On top of that, I’ve started watching Fortitude again. Began watching it ages ago, but for one reason or another I stopped. And I’m loving it. 

Cushty. 

Rewind back to the start of 2017 and I had this plan to take on the #run1000miles challenge. It seemed doable, it worked out 2.7 miles a day. 

After about 6 months I was indeed pretty much on target; halfway through the year I had 500 miles done. 

However, in July I had the bright idea to experiment with a bit of barefoot running and got myself a pair of Vibram Fivefingers. Which has been great, it has invigorated my running and all is good. The only downside has been the slow transition that is needed. I was aware that my mileage would drop off, but had every intention to pick up the mile in the last third of the year when my feet were more accustomed to the Fivefingers. And that is exactly where we are now. I’m now running in the Fivefingers pretty much all the time (except when I’m on the treadmill at the gym).

I’m at the point where if I want to do the 1000 miles this year I’ve got to up the mileage. So the plan was to put in 25+ miles this week – the weekly mileage needed to achieve the 1000 miles – and see how I’m feeling about the whole thing. 

This week’s mileage:

It’s been a good week on the running front, managed a run every day and feeling good, so I’ve made the decision: I’m going for it. 

There are 112 days left of the year and I’m currently on 638 miles, meaning – prepare for a stat attack – I need to run an average of 3.23 miles per day or 22.6 miles a week. 

Wish me luck.