Mon 5 Dec 
2:36pm  10 miles.  

Tue 6 Dec   
12:58pm  6 miles
6:47pm 8.5 miles including grass session at Altrincham with Andy and Mohammed.  2 x 1 mile, 3 x 1000m, 2 x 500m (all off 90).   4:59, 5:03, 3:06, 3:08, 3:11, 1:28, 1:28.  Another really good session for me, running strong on the hill.  My times on this circuit this winter are as strong as any previous winter, it just hasn’t quite clicked in the races yet.

Wed 7 Dec 
5:52pm  15 miles from home after a bout of Christmas Shopping!

Thu 8 Dec   
10:28am  7 miles
7:19pm  6.5 miles including track session 2 sets 6x400m (100m jog), 400m jog between sets.  Struggled throughout, then came to take my shoes off at the end of the session and realised I hadn’t put my insoles in!  No wonder!!  Could barely run at all afterwards, my PF flared up again so all in all this evening was a bit of a disaster.  69, 68, 68, 69, 70, 69, 68, 69, 68, 70, 68, 69

Fri 9 Dec      
11:02am  6 miles.  PF a little sore so just left it at that.

Sat 10 Dec  
12:19pm  6 miles around Astley Park in Chorley, on my way home from last nights works Xmas party, the first of two big nights this month.  Felt horrific but PF improved.

Sun 11 Dec 
9:23am  13 miles including Stockport 10 Mile Race.  See race report.

Weekly Mileage: 78

Mon 12 Dec           
2:54pm  4 miles easy on my break (via the bank – a regular feature of my first Monday run is to bank the weeks shop takings!)
7:27pm  10 miles with my housemate Ben after work.  A good honest paced road run around Manchester City Centre.

Tue 13 Dec 
REST DAY.    Intended to run but just too busy at work today and a late finish preparing for an inspection tomorrow.                         

Wed 14 Dec           
2:18pm  8 miles on my break.  A nice run out through Kirkham and into Treales.
6:40pm 5 miles (including 3 miles with the shop running group – again a regular feature!).  Annoyingly, the inspection was cancelled so yesterday needn’t have been a lost days training!

Thu 15 Dec 
7:29pm  7 miles including grass session in dark!  First session since Sundays 10 mile race.  3 sets of 900m, 600m, 300m, 400m (approx) all off 1min.  Stuck in horrendous traffic coming back from work so only a minimal warm up.  A good little session with Andy and Mohammed.

Fri 16 Dec    
2:54pm  10 miles.  Took the opportunity to claim some time back with a longer run on my break.

Sat 17 Dec  
10:30am  11 miles including grass session 3 x 2 miles (3mins).  Great session for me and one of my best in recent memory.  Norman Poole’s group were hosting a session of 3x12mins with a 2min rest.  Most were doing 10min reps with 4mins rest, but some did 9 off 5.  Nobody did 12min reps.  Pleased to be pushing on well at the front of the session, with Andy and Mohammed for company and also Chris Warburton who was stopping at 9mins.    10:43, 10:34, 10:28. 
4:44pm 4 miles easy run with Ben from home around Haughton Green.

Sun 18 Dec 
9:41am  17 miles with Andy and Matt Shaw.   A good run in very icy conditions from Chorlton Water Park which a few others started with us.

Weekly Mileage: 71


Mon 19 Dec           
2:49pm  6 miles  (via the bank!)
7:14pm  9 miles including road session at Sport City 4x1834m (2mins).  5:32, 5:27, 5:23, 5:31.  Last rep on my own.   First time on the car park this winter, pleased to be knocking out times that compare well to my best on here.  Was a little icy but not a problem

Tue 20 Dec 
12:05pm  6 miles
6:14pm  9 miles including grass session at Altrincham.  3 x 1 mile, 2x1k, 2x500 (all off 90).  A bit adventurous to do back to back sessions but as a one off it’s fine when not doing big mileage.   Trained with Andy, Matt and Mohammed.  5:15, 5:07, 5:03, 3:07, 3:07, 1:29, 1:29.  Another good session in the bank and felt fine after last night

Wed 21 Dec           
2:12pm  9 miles on my break
6:38pm  5 miles including 3 miles with the shop running group

Thu 22 Dec 
12:59pm  5 miles on my lunch break.  Working in Manchester City Centre today – was fun dodging Christmas shoppers!! 
7:14pm  12miles progression run.  Myself and Matt went up to Horwich to meet Nick Leigh for the Horwich RMI Harriers annual Christmas run.  Nick lives in Horwich and trains with them.  First 6 miles was all very easy: 7:42, 7:26, 7:16, 7:10, 7:13, 6:52.  Then it picked up quite quickly with three tough uphill miles: 6:18, 5:53, 6:00.  Then a 5:12 and a 4:58 both downhill and then an easy jog to complete the 12 miles.  The three of us and Gary Priestly ran the whole thing together, this was an excellent run and I have thrived off runs like these before when marathon training.

Fri 23 Dec    
1:37pm  8 miles on my break. 

Sat 24 Dec  
8:45am  7 miles including 8x1min efforts in the middle.  Did this with Ben in Heaton Park, en route to work.  At one point we were caught by the leading Parkrunners on our jog recovery and then we found ourselves constantly overtaking them and being retaken!  A quick check on one of the miles including the recoveries was 5:40 which is probably about the speed of the lead parkrunners!

Sun 25 Dec 
11:41am  7.5 miles with Andy, from my parents house.  Shortened version of our regular Christmas Day run as we are racing on Tuesday

Weekly Mileage: 84


Mon 26 Dec           
7:27pm  6 miles after work

Tue 27 Dec 
9:48am  12 miles including Ribble Valley 10k race.  Then straight onto work.  See race report

Wed 28 Dec           
9:27am  15 miles with Matt.  Day off work.

Thu 29 Dec 
10:20am  6 miles before work.  Too busy in work to run again, a very late finish, but racing again Saturday so won’t do me any harm

Fri 30 Dec            
8:06pm  4 miles after work

Sat 31 Dec          
10:06am  3.5 miles jog.  Jogged down to B&Q and back to pick up an item.    Good to stretch the legs out before the journey down to Wales
6:16pm  7 miles including Nos Galan 5k race.  See race report. 

Sun 1 Jan            
10:56am  11 miles with Ben, Gary, Josh, and Tess.  Ran from our hotel in Merthyr Tydfil back to Aberdare where we had left the car overnight.  Certainly not a flat run, lots of long uphill and downhill road sections!

Weekly Mileage: 65    

Always a difficult week to get many miles in when you work in retail as the sales start and it’s the busiest period of the year.   With two races this week, that wasn’t a huge issue.  Was lucky to have the weekend off for Nos Galan, an excellent event which I will mention more in my race report.