Week 12 – 15 – Curveball

Life is a funny old thing.

I’ve enjoyed writing this blog since it’s inception at the beginning of my training plan for Istanbul. It serves it’s purpose admirably – to provide me with a platform to document my training and keep me on track – and my training has been all the better for it. But…

Much like running itself, it isn’t all that important in the grand scheme of things. Granted, I have no idea where I’d be without running and it’s certainly become a focal point of my day to day life. But then again, I once said that about football, and look how that turned out…

Sometimes, though, life throws you a curveball that makes everything else seem extremely trivial. Shortly after my birthday run in Wendover, my girlfriend (who is carrying our first child together) called with the news that she had been diagnosed with suspected Pneumonia and that a stay in hospital was imminent. Naturally, making sure Yasmin and bump were safe and well became the only thing that mattered.

And so, along with running and worklife, this blog had to take a back seat. I still managed to sneak in a run here and there in between visiting hours, but my mind was elsewhere and I just lost the love for it all.

I’m absolutely overjoyed to say Yasmin and baby are fit and well now. There’s a fairly long recovery road ahead but everything is going in the right direction. Running could, and has, retaken it’s place and I’ve quickly rediscovered my passion for it. I feel fit and ready for Istanbul and i’m eagerly looking forward to tapering down ready for the race and planning for my few days in a city I’ve never been to before.

I won’t bore you with a run by run breakdown of the last few weeks, but I’ll link the runs beneath should you feel curious.

Cheers

JM

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Here are the (many) numbers:

Week 12

Day 77 – Rest

Day 78 – 5.26 mi, 7:36 /mi, 40m 0s Tempo

Day 79 – 4.11 mi 9:39 /mi 39m 43s Recovery

Day 80 – Rest

Day 81 – Rest

Day 82 – 5.31 mi 8:01 /mi 42m 35s Run to Yasmin; 5.46 mi 8:23 /mi 45m 45s WGH to Home

Day 83 – 5.66 mi 9:02 /mi 51m 8s Recovery

Total: 25.8 miles

Week 13

Day 84 – 5.16 mi 8:43 /mi 45m 1s Recovery

Day 85 – Rest

Day 86 – Rest

Day 87 – 9.81 mi 8:50 /mi 1h 26m Long Recovery

Day 88 – 4.75 mi 8:32 /mi 40m 35s Treadmill Cruise Intervals

Day 89 – 6.44 mi 8:44 /mi 56m 17s Recovery

Day 90 – 18.00 mi 8:44 /mi 2h 37m Long Run

Total: 45.6 miles

Week 14

Day 91 – 4.67 mi 9:49 /mi 45m 51s Slow Recovery

Day 92 – 7.24 mi 9:07 /mi 1h 6m Treadmill Cruise Intervals

Day 93 – Rest

Day 94 – 4.19 mi 8:49 /mi 36m 57s Recovery

Day 95 – 5.37 mi 7:38 /mi 41m 1s Mixed Intervals (Failed)

Day 96 – Rest

Day 97 – 19.00 mi 7:51 /mi 2h 29m Long Run

Total: 40.5 miles

Week 15

Day 98 – Rest

Day 99 – Rest

Day 100 – 10.35 mi 8:41 /mi 1h 29m Double Recovery

Day 101 – 4.18 mi 9:06 /mi 38m 3s Recovery

Day 102 – Rest

Day 103 – Rest

Day 104 – 16.07 mi 8:16 /mi 2h 12m Long Run

Total: 30.6 miles