1st day of the Juneathon

Well, the plan was either to do Telford parkrun or to run to Telford parkrun, do the parkrun, then run home. That would be about 10 miles and should be do-able, after my 9.24 mile run last week.

So, when I woke up this morning and leapt out of bed, what happened ? My niggly achilles tendons were both very sore and I hobbled down the stairs to pop to the loo then hobbled back upstairs and went back to bed !  I'm determined to see my half-marathon training through to the end this time - and that means avoiding injury.  My achilles tendons have been bothering me for months now and it's fairly manageable but I'm not risking aggravating them when they're actually painful rather than a bit sore and tight.

I spent the day up and down a stepladder painting the house so didn't feel up to major exercise after that. I settled for following the squats routine in this month's Runner's World. That should make me a stronger runner, apparently.  It hurt my knees a lot - perhaps it's something I need to build up gradually.

Before the 5x50 challenge I was doing squats fairly regularly but I let it slip while I got a bit obsessed with distance and trying to average 10 km a day of either cycling or running. The challenge was good for me - I've noticed an improvement in my running (once the achilles tendons have warmed/loosened up thoroughly) in that I can keep going for longer and my speed is slowly improving too.

For the Juneathon challenge, I want to maintain more of a balance between running and gym.  I may go back to my yoga classes as I've missed them ever since changing gyms a few months ago. Running will be three times a week so as not to over-strain my ankles - a training session with Telford Harriers on a Tuesday evening, an easy run with Harriers on a Thursday evening and a long run at the weekend.

The half I'm aiming for is the Black Country Half Marathon on 6 July.  It's flattish, following a route along the canal from Wolverhampton to Birmingham, with just the bridges to run over.  This should mean not too much strain on my ankles so I should have a chance of feeling comfortable throughout as long as a pace myself sensibly.Flat will be quite a novelty - it's difficult to go on a run from my house without encountering any hills !