1st week back to Training

After having the previous week to take it easy and let my calf recover (which is has done nicely, thanks Mo) i was back into a full week of training, 7 days on the bounce!

Monday started with a cheeky little bike ride of 70kms in the gym, i rode the bike instead of running to test out my calf a little to see if it was ready to load, as well as  getting my legs working for the 2 hours i was riding for. I didnt mind the ride at all, i had my Ipod blasting away and singing the tunes of AC/DC, Basement Jaxx, Jaz-Z, and abit of George Michael for my mate Ric Bolus (a massive fan of George). Felt fresh getting off the bike, day one of the week was definately a success!

Tuesday was an interesting day, still no running for the reason stated above, but a real mental test of 2.5 hours on the cross-trainer, that is one of the most boring things ive ever done in my life, not even George Michael could rescue me from this one. I had to simply stick it out, as other gym goers came and went (with numerous looks of “what an idiot”) i simply kept my head down and legs working. I hit 2 hours and thought great, only 30minutes to go, but it was still 30 minutes. I realised it is now that i must concentrate and focus to complete the remaining 30 minutes, as in the desert im sure there will be times when i dont want to be there and i have alot more than 30minutes to go in a stage, but i must simply keep pushing on. Using the energy from my thoughts i finished the 2.5 hours and “quickly jumped” off the crosstrainer, much to my surprise my legs were extremely shaky and i was wobbling from side to side just trying to walk, luckily there was a mirror in front of me so i could see exactly how stupid i looked, took me a while to stop laughing at myself as well as my legs from shaking. The session was complete and that was that,  great work both mentally and physically.

Wednesday i was back on the roads for a light 7km run, i took it easy and just simply cruised through the run to renew some confidence back in my calf while running, all went according to plan and with no problems. After i finished my run i thought i would head to the pool for a few laps, well after a “few” i got into a rhythym and smashed out 2kms of freestyle, i actually enjoyed it, also it probably had something to do with the fact that i was the only person in the pool for my entire swim, VIP treatment for The Adventurer!

Along came Thursday with a quick 10kms on order, with my 10kg backpack strapped on, and 2 litres of water in my frontpack i was off, the aim of todays session was simply to stress the body out just a little as it had an easy previous couple of weeks, and during those couple of weeks i had totally forgotten just how heavy 12kgs was when its strapped to your body. My run was over on the 44 minute mark, and so was my days training.

Most people love Friday, time to unwind, slow down from a busy week, well i was told to do 15kms at the same pace as yesterdays 10k, to be honest i wasnt at all happy about this, for some reason i had a block in my head about doing this run, while eating breakfast i was simply dreading getting dressed and kitted up, i thought maybe some music will help, but ive banned myself from listening to music while running as i will not be listening to any during my race, nice one Luke! After a minute or 10 to reflect on what i was about to do, i simply told myself to suck it up and get comfortable with being uncomfortable during my run, for some stupid reason i listened to myself and it worked. I ran hard from my first step until my last, cursing my trainer (Mo Magic Hands O’Connell) the entire way, but i made it, and maintained my desired pace, lets just say i was happy for that run to be over with!

With the weekend arriving so was a run with slightly slower pace, 20kms at my “normal” speed, i really enjoyed this session, i hugged the River Thames most of the way passing numerous runners who were also out clocking up miles on a Saturday morning, i was smiling and being cheerful to everyone who i passed, except all i got back from the Londoners i passed was either a blank look or a look of  “you look like an idiot with that backpack on, what planet are you from”. This wasnt to dampen my spirits, i kept saying hi to everyone regardless of the look i was given, it was an enjoyable Saturday morning for myself, even though i got the cold shoulder from everyone i passed.

Finally the end of the week, the day of rest which is Sunday, just not for me. I was to complete 5kms as quick as i could with each km at the same speed, hmmm i thought i was done with all the speed stuff this week, apparently someone else had other plans! I strapped on my backpack/frontpack/camera/beanie/gloves you undertsand the routine and set off for my “quick” 5kms, i managed to pretty much hold my pace at 4:10min/km, not the easiest thing to do with 12kg strapped to your body, well not for me anyway. This was my least favourite run of the week, although only taking a touch under 21mins i hurt the entire way, even more than i did for my 15kms on Thursday, but i took away the satisfaction of completing the run, and the week of training. No one can take the week of training i had away from me, it wasnt easy but i worked through every day, and in the end i finished every session as i was supposed to, and im now sitting here with this weeks training behind me smiling at what lies ahead for Luke Tyburski the Adventurer.

Training Tip of the week- Say hi if someone runs past you.

Luke