26 weeks to go

I went to the cinema and out for a meal with Graeme on Friday night. Yet again I missed the time for the swimming baths so yet again resided myself to the fact I had missed yet another chance to do some sort of cardio. It was when I got home I noticed I had an email from William and Shaun asking me did I feel there was something they could advise me about my training (after looking at what I have recently done on Fetch). It made me really sit and think about how little cardio I do and gave me food for thought when it came to trying to think of something alternative to do when I can't get to the swimming baths.

On Saturday morning I got up and did my leg extentions/curls and airborne running, and I decided to see how my foot would cope with an easy 10 minute step session. I chose a 6.5 inch step (the lowest it would go), and, carrying no weight (I normally carry 6KG) I maintained a quick cadence for the ten minutes. By the end I hadn't even broken out into a sweat and felt no tiredness at all. My foot was good though... A good sign!

Today I did 15 minutes on the same height step I normally use (10 inches) and was exhausted by the end and sweating like a pig! Foot again was good. I do find if I do gentle exercise for my foot it feels great, but slightly too much and it's awful. I gave myself 2 minutes rest and then did my first set of deadlifts for what seems like an age!!! Again, I was conservative by using only the bar weight (15KG) but I did 5 sets of 20 reps so I had done 100 in total by the end. My back felt a little shaky by the time I had gone downstairs to have my recovery drink. Having a bath with a few small aches and pains felt brilliant.

So, with a fab 26 full weeks to go to the Bangalore Ultra, I'm looking forward to getting back into my normal training schedule (minus the running for the moment however). If all goes well, I may have a last "long run" by way of a race 5 weeks before Bangalore at the Round Ripon Ultra (35 miles). This, of course, is dependent on me being fit enough by then. I won't be committing myself to it just yet!