Merry Christmas!

I had planned on following a Jack Daniel's plan for my next marathon cycle but during the week I saw a link to the Boston Marathon advanced training programme which seems to suit what I'm looking for pretty closely. There's much more running at a faster pace and the vast majority of my training will be closer to Marathon Pace. One thing I will need to keep an eye on is the increased effort and try to avoid succumbing to any injuries. Hopefully my pretty good record in the past along with the 2,350 miles I've already ran this year will see me through the plan safely and healthily.

Monday, 16th December, 2013 - 6.5km Recovery Run (5:31/km)

This was just a recovery run to get back running after a week off. I expected my legs to be nice and fresh but instead they were pretty annoyed to be called into action!

Tuesday, 17th December, 2013 - 11.9km Easy Run (5:13/km)

I met up with Anto for this run and what was expected to be a relaxed run instead had several 5min kms thrown into the mix. Good that this happened though as I'd have taken it easy had I been on my own.

Wednesday, 18th December, 2013 - 7.6km Distance Run (5:00/km)

Today was the day I got turned on to the new plan so this meant a faster run than normal. Legs are feeling the effort of a faster average pace so far this week but I think it'll be good for them!

Thursday, 19th December, 2013 - 11.9km 5 x 1,000m @ MTP - 4:33/km (4:51/km)

Strangely I liked this run with the Marathon Tempo Pace intervals. I was running at an effort that felt right so I rarely consulted the watch but thankfully I was on target whenever I did!

Friday, 20th December, 2013 - 12.4km Distance Run (5:18/km)

Another meet up with Anto and again we went a bit faster than scheduled. I had allowed myself to take it a bit easier this evening but the actual quicker pace was what was really required so happy with this.

Saturday, 21st and Sunday 22nd December, 2013 - Rest Days.

Christmas season has truly kicked-in and allied with the terrible weather I baled on both days this weekend. One of them was a Rest Day anyways but the other was a short 'Distance' run.
I had planned on doing the Clonliffe Cracker 5k race around my Estate but in the end I decided against paying €20 for running a race in crappy conditions when I was nowhere near PB form myself, and all with a hangover! So, that's 0 from 3 for me and this race. It would be so much better suited to early new year than the last Sunday before Christmas!

Week 50 Summary:

RTW: 5 from 7 days

DTW: 50.3 km

DTY: 3,742.5 km