Of Badgers and Trails.

Here is how my writing process goes: I have an idea about some subject that I’d like to broach via an experience, or perhaps something I’ve read, then I sit down to tackle that subject. From there a different thread will shake loose that I find to be more engaging than my original idea, and I let things flow organically from there. It usually works for me in the sense that I have fun doing it (look out for when I start talking about bloody badgers below) but the concept behind the training journal portion of this blog was to make it a training journal (the clue is in the name) and, yet, I really I haven’t been talking specifically about my training at all. Personally I think the more conceptual pieces are more interesting, but from a perspective of personal growth I think it is important for me to take the time to put my training to paper and

r e f l e c t. 

So. 

Last week I was feeling a little tired as I balanced a 60 mile week with an increase in work hours, but this week work has been back to normal, and I’ve found 60 miles with far more ease. Beyond the work factor, I’ve been careful to put some miles off-road, reducing the impact on my legs. Monday I hit the trails for an Easy 5, and on my Friday double I hit the trails again for 8, and then did a tempo workout on the treadmill for another 7. That Friday morning trail run was my favourite run in a while. I felt very comfortable, and besides that it was good to get nice and muddy on some new trails which are only minutes away from my place of work. There is something endlessly satisfying about running a new loop. I am filled with an enormous sense of wellbeing every time I come across somewhere safe to park and train; happy in the knowledge that this is a place which I’ll be able to come back to time and time again. 

I am training to race a 5k on the road so I can’t completely ignore the harder surfaces, but I am becoming more and more of a trail runner as my mileage progresses. I think it will be an interesting summer. 

I hit the roads on Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday, and Sunday, with a full rest on Wednesday. It is much easier to write about training when things go wrong, and when things go without incident it is…not so easy. This is not a thing to compain about, so I won’t.

Tuesday was a speed session, combining 5 minute tempo efforts with some strong 400ms. Thursday was my moderate day, 8 miles @ 6:45 a mile. This is not very interesting. I felt tired, but I bounced back on Friday so I wasn’t worried about that. No, the content of this run is not worth much dissection, but as a new thread comes dangling loose in my mind I ask you this – how many badgers do you see on a yearly basis? And, as a follow up question, how many of those badgers are alive? I cannot say with any certainty that I have seen a living badger in the flesh in the past year, but recently I have seen at least 3 dearly departed black and white mustelidae on my local roads. The sorry fellow I bore witness to on Thursday’s was in a decent, whole state, but the fox that I saw on the same run was…not. It wasn’t pretty, and you’ll be happy to know I didn’t take pictures. 

Saturday was an easy 7, and Sunday – of course – was a long run day (15 miles). And that, is that. Another week begins. I’m looking for another 60. Three 60’s on the bounce will make a tidy peak period before I drop to 50, then 35-40ish as I take on a 5k time trial. After that, as of right now, there might well be some honest to goodness racing. Blow me down.