Recently I put the Bristol Half Marathon on my calendar.  It feels good to see it scheduled in there.  I couldn’t run it last year due to my slipped disc.  Since I’m now seeing specialist physiotherapy up at Southmead Hospital I feel confident I have the right help to do it safely.  They are aware of my  running habit.

My Personal Best currently sits at 2 hours 17 minutes and I’m aiming for 2 hours.  I dusted off a running book from Runner’s World with running plans in the back.  I chose an Intermediate plan to avoid going over my 10 miles a week too rapidly – I don’t want to over do it with excitement!  I started the plan a bit late as it should have required 10 weeks and I’m giving it 8 weeks. I won’t be able to stick to it even by about 80%.  The plan is useful to know what to do in the sessions I do do so that I make the most of them.

The first 3 weeks have been a case of slowly building up the distance of each run. Two mile runs in week one,  three mile runs in week two, four mile runs in week three.  I’m now under 9 stone which seems to be helping speed. I’m back to averaging 9.30 minute miles in shorter runs and 10-11 minute miles for longer ones.  Average weekly mileage is slowly starting to creep past the 10 miles a week as a result which is fantastic – I hope it continues.

I finished last week with volunteering a Eastville Park Junior parkrun event #17 as a Funnel Manager.  I’ve had to step away from being an RD  for a bit as I’m relocating back to Bristol for autumn  but will keep up with general volunteering.  It’s lovely seeing this group grow.

Happy running,

Eleanor.

Xxx