Stormin' Norman

Monday - 9 miles 59 mins. Furthest run so far and went much quicker than I had been doing. Felt better.

Tuesday - 9 miles 64 mins. Same route as yesterday but slower. Felt awful obviously tired from yesterdays run. At one point an old lady was running for the bus with 2 shopping bags and I swear I was struggling to catch her!

Wednesday - 9.5 miles 63 mins undulating road loop with Iain Twaddle. I'm working in the Northeast for a couple of days staying with Iain who manages the Start Fitness store in Durham. Found this really hard and the plantar fasciitus was a little sore afterwards.

Thursday - 7 miles including track session with Iain. 1k, 3mins rest, 800m, 2:30 rest, 600m, 2mins rest, 400m, 60 secs rest, 300m, 50 secs rest, 200m. Times 2:59, 2:19, 1:44, 66, 46, 30. Just pulled away towards the end of each rep. This really shocked me because I didn't think I would be capable of running anything like these times after such a long time off. This was my first session since the National 6 Stage in early October last year where the pain in my PF became too unbearable. It was quite sore after the session so I do need to be careful.

Friday - 9.5 miles 68 mins on the trails with Iain at 7am before I set off to work in Scotland for a couple of days. My foot was sore after this so I need a rest day tomorrow as I agreed today to run a short leg in the Northern 12 stage relays on Sunday.

Saturday - Rest day. Although slightly worried about my foot because I was on my feet for 12 hours working at the Deerstalker event on the Scottish Borders promoting our new Ronhill Range. I would have loved to have been able to do this it looked like an extremely fun event. Drove back to Manchester at 10pm so a fairly late night.

Sunday - 9 miles including short leg at the Northern 12 Stage relays. 6th Fastest short leg 14:58 for a leg just short of 5k. I would have been happy with anything under 16 today for my first race since early October so I was bewildered with this run. I really thought I was in over 16 min 5k shape after such a long break but I often underestimate how quickly I can come back after injury and how much difference this weeks training made to my fitness. The foot wasn't too bad after the race, which is encouraging.

Total - 53 miles. After a few miles in Benidorm 2 weeks ago and then a 45 mile first full week of training last week this was a big step forward, a successful first session and first race since last October. Also ate fairly well this week and lost a few lbs. Hopefully I can take another step forward the next few weeks and hold the injuries off.

Andy Norman (Ronhill Sales Rep & Altrincham AC)