It really does feel like I am getting my running mojo back and in the two weeks since my last post I have probably run more consistently than I have in months.

Last few weeks training

The easiest way to illustrate the change is to use a graph showing the increase since the end of August to now:

Throughout August and September my running was practically non-existent, battling injury and just general lack of motivation following the NDW100 DNF. Then around the beginning of October I was persuaded to enter the Avalanche Events Winter Fan Dance which spurred me on to get up and start running, and it has been going well. The first week was about getting back into the swing of things, after that a solid 31 miles the following week. W/C 21/10/2013 was my Birthday week and I had some time off (DIY and family time) so it dropped again, although I wasn’t unhappy with this as it meant I was allowing recovery. W/C 28th the weighted runs increased with pretty much all of them having me carrying 8kg of weight, culminating with a “run” on Saturday around Box Hill with the objective of getting some good ascent in the bag.

Saturday’s Training Run/Yomp

Despite weather warnings it wasn’t raining, although the ground was quite damp. The rucksack had around 8kg of weight in it plus another 2 litres (2kg) of water so it was a decent training weight, although to hit race day weight I need another 10kg in there!

Pace wise it wasn’t too bad, obviously with that sort of weight onboard it’s not going to be quick and ascending a hill weighted is something else entirely, on the Mickleham steps my heart was beating at around 160bpm and I was barely moving! It’s clear that adding an extra 10kg is going to make things even harder so it is all important I get used to going up with weight.

To help improve my training I have bought a Kettler 10kg weighted vest which has 8 1.125kg removable bags in it so I can tailor it to suit my needs. Also having these weighted bags means I can load my rucksack up in a balanced fashion, taking up minimal space and hopefully hitting the 20kg target (with kit, food, water etc) for race day.

I will do a review on it once I have had an opportunity to give it a thorough testing, its available on Amazon if your interested: Kettler 10kg Vest