It was time for threshold intervals again, today.  10 minutes at 8 – 8.5 RPE, rest 90 secs and repeat.  Three times.  I went out too fast in my first interval, which meant I blew up in my second, just shy of 6 minutes in.  But I took the recovery and did the third.  Why did I blow?  Well…. inexperience, mostly, I think.  I’ve never done 10 minute intervals before, and it’s quite a long time to run at that intensity.  But also I am not experienced enough at keeping going when my body is screaming at me to stop.  Because mostly, actually, it’s not my body that wants to stop, it’s my head.  And I’ve got to learn to ignore that voice.

Other factors, though, included a tough workout yesterday.  I went to a body pump class, and considerably upped my weights.  My upper body is far less strong than my legs, and I’m really feeling the DOMs today in my shoulders, arms and back of my ribs.  These aren’t core areas to recruit for producing a good run, admittedly.  But having a strong core really helps to produce a strong run, and so I guess having a sore and tired core may detract a little from one’s endurance ability…

So that was my Monday rest day. On Sunday, I had my wonderful yoga class.  I do sun power yoga, which is a blend of Dynamic Hatha, Sivananda and Astanga Vinyasa.  It’s a wonderful combination of breathing, meditation and movement and it works your body – hard! – but stills your mind.  Not a bad trick, if you can pull it off!

I read a really interesting article about glute strength over the weekend,  so I’m determined to keep working on core.  Part of my iMarathon programme involves a body conditioning sequence which George has designed, which does focus on exercises like clams and bird dogs, so I’ll pay particular attention to those – tomorrow, when my bodypump DOMs die down!

The eagle-eyed amongst you will have spotted my new road shoes – bought in the sales to replace my much beloved Newton Distance Elite, these are Gravity IV shoes, much the same as the Distance Elite, but a little more robust for everyday training.  The Distance Elite shoes aren’t quite dead yet, so I can rotate the two pairs for a while, before I have to wave them a sad goodbye.  I do love my Newtons!!