JK Training

We have just had a gorgeous week in Edinburgh. So who wanted to stay in doors when one could be enjoying the sunshine and preparing for the JK? I have to say not me!

Monday after the BOC event I took as a rest day. Had a lovely cycle into town to meet up with Lauren though and went for a walk around Blackford Hill in the nice weather!

Reminded me why I love Edinburgh so much!

 
Tuesday brought another nice day and it was down to the meadows for EUOC intervals. My legs were still feeling dead however and still wasn't feeling 100% better from my cold so had a steady run around Arthur's Seat with Lauren and Cat. It was so nice to be running with people again and it was nice to have a chat with them about training and recovering from races.

Wednesday I met up with Rona and Kirsten for some training at Bonaly. I cycled there and oh my was the hill up a killer! I felt like I could have run there quicker! But it was such a nice day out that I didn't really mind and the way I took back a long the Water of Leith was nice. So for training I ran the FwtN long course that I missed. However, I ran it only a few controls at a time. Every 3-4 controls I put my map down walked back and practiced restarting a course. I think it really helped. Also there were quite a few groups out and about having BBQs or mountain biking and having them watch me helped me remember I need to ignore others while out. I found the map a bit odd in a few places but was thoroughly enjoying be outside in the sun. I also learned from this my legs were still feeling dead and I should do a few more runs on the trails around there and get in some heather running. Hard work!

Map! skipped out 20 and 21 as running out of time.

Thursday was meant to be an easy lap of campus but decided I would bike out to Portabello bench to join EUOC for a BBQ there and that the ~35km ride would be enough for the day. It was a lovely day although a bit cooler than previous. We even went swimming in the sea! and the BBQ was great even with all the sand :)

Friday brought another lovely day and the start of Easter Holidays, which I started with a run around campus. And it is a "morning" run (ie 10am) that I actually enjoyed greatly! After that it was on the train to come stay with my Aunt, Uncle and cousin in Falkirk. Great to be around family and not stuck in empty halls. And it is really nice to be around family I haven't really gotten a chance to know all that well other than in the summers when I grew up.

Saturday was my cousins birthday so we had cake and played with the baby Thomas. I was feeling tired and legs just had no energy so the training for today was spending a bit of time looking at old maps. Need to be doing some more geeking in the coming week though.

Especially as Sunday brought an EUOC trip to Livingston to run the training courses for the JK. I ran both of the Urban sprints focusing on A) the start, so tried to replicate a race start as much as I could by putting the map down on the ground unfolded and such. I think that is really helping and I'm gaining more of a habit/routine out of it. and B) making sure I had a plan for the next control going into the previous. I was trying to have the whole plan and not just which way I was exiting as in the housing developments the route really does determine how you leave and was trying hard to practice looking for traps. After the two urban sprints I decided to run a few controls in Calder Woods. They didn't go as well. I was confused by the map. thankfully though I was quickly running out of time so bailed before my mental aditude from this training day turned bad. Was so glad to be out with EUOC people so much this week!