Trailstumbling: Training log - 22.07

This is a 2 week log although the first week was basically a rest week. I fully believe in taking a full week off every now and then not only to let your body recover but to give your mind a break. This was one of those weeks although I consider it active recovery as I attended a meditation course by The Art of Living Foundation (http://www.artofliving.org/za-en). This not only taught me how to relax my mind but also involved some relaxing yoga (although most yoga is hectic for my inflexible runnerbody). I definitely felt the benefits and feeling refreshed with a new perspective I embarked on a strength week. My training is quite unstructured but I am making an effort to alternate strength and mileage weeks.

So for the week 29.07 - 04.08

Monday - CrossFit

After a good bear complex the met-con played to my strengths involving some box jumps and runs so I was happy to get a good time.

AFAP (As Fast As Possible)

3 Rounds
7x Burpee Pull-ups
10x Box Jumps (60cm)
200m Sprint

Result:    5:00

Tuesday - Run - Orelando_G Time Trial

I did my same 12.1km loop around Century City, nice and flat so I pushed as hard as I could and managed to get through 30 seconds faster than my previous time. I am not sure if this is just a good day or if I am seeing gains with my revised training approach. Will do it again in 2 weeks and see what happens.

12.1km
0m climb
0:58:47

Wednesday - CrossFit/run

A nice surprise at CrossFit was some interval training which fit in nicely with my running training. We did 400m loops around the block which made it a bit more interesting than track 400m training as it involves car dodging and a good up and downhill. I kept my splits pretty standard around 1m15 - 1m20 and my first lap was the slowest which is a good sign.

5 x 400m with 1min rest

2km
0m climb
0:10:25

Thursday - CrossFit

Quite an easy session where we worked on our back squats and then onto a Tabata

Tabata
Overhead lunges    (20kg)
Burpees

Result:
OHL   9/9/8/7
Burpees    8/8/7/7

Friday - rest day including a drive up to Swellendam

Saturday - Hike

A = Marloth Nature Reserve

The Lady Falcon and I snuck away for the weekend to Swellendam to get out into the country after a stressful few months. The idea was to explore the nearby Marloth Nature Reserve on the Saturday and then run it on Sunday. This idea was fraught with flaws such as the opening of a bottle of Rickety Bridge Sauvignon Blanc shortly after the hike which turned the Sunday run into a late breakfast. The hike was still awesome though and I am very keen to go back there to run this reserve.

Map and route

The Marloth Nature Reserve is a thin long reserve with very easy to navigate trails from the Swellendam entrance. The reserve had a massive fire a few years back and the fynbos is still recovering. It is now at the perfect stage where it looks incredible but is not so overgrown that you can't enjoy it. The entrance to the reserve is free and you can pick up an easy to follow trail map at the entrance. We drove into the reserve and got on a loop which started with long but gradual climb. As it flattened out on the plateau we passed over 2 rivers with some cool (in nature and temperature) rock pools. After a missed turn we then found the route down which was about a 2km single track downhill back to the road and the car. Total distance was about 8km. I recommend this to anyone new to trail running as the trails are not technical or too tough and you are also always in site of your car so there is no fear of getting lost!

Sunday - Complete rest and relaxation day

Week run total

Mileage - 14.1km
Metres gained - very little...probably about 65!
Time - 1h09

Some pics from Marloth Nature Reserve