The fourth week of training for the Tour de Torfaen and the 4am runs have made a return. It’s always good getting out there early to get the miles in before breakfast.
Tuesday – 8 Miles
Another non-4am run (these are becoming a habit!). Decided to push back the morning run an hour to catch up on some sleep and the extra hour made a difference. Went for the usual run around Somerton and the SDR bridge and nothing to report other than things felt pretty good.
Distance: 8.15 Miles
Wednesday – 4 Miles
Decided to make an effort today and get up for a 4am run and rather than take the easy option and run on the flat pushed myself to do hill repeats on Stow Hill. At around 0.4 miles the hill is not short but is runnable the entire length, just not at speed. It’s a rewarding lung-busting climb that gets steeper two thirds of the way up but the long return to the bottom allows you to fully recover for the next repeat.
Despite how hard it can be sometimes, I was so glad that I made the effort to get up early – it’s so rewarding.
Distance: 5 Miles
Thursday – 8 Miles
I’m getting back in the groove with the 4am runs! Rather than run one of my usual routes I opted for loops around the Riverfront which is easy just to switch off and run for an hour. Things were feeling good so picked up the pace a little and ran most of the route at a pretty consistent 7:20 /mi pace throughout the 8 miles.
Another batch mid-week runs have been completed and looking forward to planning for the running adventure on Saturday.
Distance: 8 Miles
Saturday – 14 Miles
The planning for this week’s running adventure took a bit of a turn on Friday when I happened to place an order for some beer to collect from BrewDog Cardiff only to inadvertently order them to BrewDog Bath. At first I tried to get a refund from the Bath bar but didn’t get a response so decided to put a route that would take me to the bar. As I didn’t realise that BrewDog had opened a bar in Bath it would be a good opportunity to pay a visit.
I’ve done a number of runs in the area before arriving in Bath from most direction but I didn’t want to use old routes so decided to plot a route that would bring me in from the west. The route would start at Keynsham and follow the River Chew for a few miles passing through Pensford and the edge of Stanton Drew before heading back east through Farmborough, Priston, Inglesbatch and Englishcombe before dropping down into Bath via Southdown, South Twerton and Oldfield Park.
With the TdT route being largely off-road I wanted to select a route that would feature similar terrain and elevation so using the OS Maps app plotted a route that utilised fields, tracks and the odd country lane. It did mean that there were a large number of gates, stiles and footbridges to deal with and the constant stopping and starting does take its toll but I would be experiencing similar on the TdT route so was very useful.
For most of the run I felt pretty good and had 1.5 litres of Tailwind with me but it was warming up as the run progressed and by the time I reached Bath I was finding it a struggle and couldn’t have gone any further than the 20 miles planned. The beer at BrewDog was very welcomed and thankfully the beer that I had ordered for collection was still there.
Distance: 20 Miles
Sunday – 3 Miles
To round off the week I wanted to keep it local so that I could also squeeze in a trip to the cinema so I headed to the Riverfront for some loops. I was aiming for around 4-5 miles and things were feeling good so picked up the pace a little. It was a good run to round off the week.
Distance: 5 Miles
No Comments