Progress report, March

Recapping goals for March:

1) Tick off every training run in my plan (3 runs per week) 

2) Continue with strength training twice a week

3) Hit 100km for the month

4) Do another 5km 'proper' time trial

1) 100%! Very pleased about this. 

2) mostly, because we ran a few trails and hills, I skipped a couple of sessions because I figured my legs/glutes didn't need more overloading! 

3) achieved: 113km this month. Biggest monthly total since July 2015. 

4) I didn't do this one. Towards the end of the month I knew my body was getting tired, and I didn't want to overload it with any unnecessary stress before the half marathon. I'll get one in by the end of April. 

Other highlights:

- The Gorge run with Sonia. Loved it. It was by far the hardest run I've ever done, but the most rewarding. 

- completing the most daunting of the interval sessions: 5x 5 min threshold with 1 min recovery. I ran these hard, and walked in between. It was tough, but a good exercise in mental strength. 

- my fastest 20km ever - 1:58:03 (5:54min/km pace). This was the best training run, we headed out with no expectations but to just run for 2 hours and see how far we got. We blitzed it! I'm hoping for some of these vibes for 'race day' 😉

- A unplanned tempo run (I was feeling great so revised the goal for the session), where I ran 8km at an average of 5:32. I've never run this mid distance this fast before!! 

- slogging through our 2 hour very hilly trail run, despite feeling heavy and tired that day. 

I did have a couple of less than amazing runs, but we are going to chalk them up to experience and focus on the good ones instead 👍🏻

Wow! It's been a busy month, looking back! 

Next up, April's goals. 

1) Complete my second half marathon on 9 April. It will also be my first off-road half marathon. I have decided to take the pressure off myself and instead of setting a time goal (I've no idea how much slower I will be anyway) - my goal will be to run happy and strong; do my best, and get to the end feeling like I've given it my all. 

I really like this pic, and the quote; "run with your heart, not your legs". When my legs get tired on race day, I'll think of this image and remember how much I love to run!  

2) Take at least one full week off after the half, to give my body a break. Maybe even two weeks. 

3) Run a 5km time trial by the end of the month.