Block 1 is behind me, but I’ve missed more runs than I should have (184 miles out of 229 scheduled, or around 80%). I need to fix that in Block 2, but I’m not feeling too despondent since Block 1 was devised simply to get me running again – just a whole load of easy miles.

That said, I am going to try to replace those 45 miles through Blocks 2, 3 and 4. I’ll distribute them through the step back weeks and with six of those left, adding one 7 mile run to each one will bring me more or less back on track.

Here’s what’s in store for the majority of weeks in Block 2.

Have to confess to slipping a little over the last couple of weeks and need to arrest that before it deteriorates. It’s largely been around scheduling, but that’s no real excuse – I should always be able to find time for a run. This week is officially a step-back week before I start Block 2 next week. At that point, I’ll be adding tempo runs into the mix and increasing the distance of the long Sunday run to fifteen miles.

Third week of my training schedule for September’s Great North Run and a weird start to the week. Felt completely and utterly exhausted yesterday – as if somebody had sprinkled sleeping dust into the air. Genuinely, I could barely keep my eyes open in the afternoon so decided to miss my first run of the week. Not a great start but I’m aiming to replace the eleven miles missed with four additional short runs (with Buffy in the park) of three / four miles each.

Here’s the slightly revised plan for the week:

Second week of my training schedule for September’s Great North Run got underway yesterday with a long run. I really enjoyed my first week and yesterday’s run was the first to feel vaguely “fluid”. The weather was perfect as I headed out of the door around 6pm.

Although this is the second “formal” week of training, I started to run regularly again towards the end of March. I can’t claim to be on top of the world, but a degree of fitness (however small) makes such a difference!

So, here goes. This is what’s in store for the next few days:

It’s the worst case of “too little, too late” that I can remember. I was reading some of my earlier running posts and I’m shocked at how frequently I fail to heed my own advice.

What’s absolutely clear is that this year’s Great North Run is a write off. I’m disregarding my time and I’ll be perfectly happy to get around in two hours. Given that my PB of 1:32 was two years ago and that I really wanted to break 1:30 this year, that is a huge disappointment.

My plan now is to get an entry into the Brass Monkey (Jan 2010) and work hard on pace between now and then. In reality, there’s still insufficient time to train for a sub 1:30, but I must improve on the time I’m about to log for a half marathon.

All of that said, GNR is a wonderful event and I’m really looking forward to next weekend!

Garmin Connect Log

6.5m | 56:39 | 8:42 | 166bpm | Marathon Pace