Go Big Or Go Home

Last week my running schedule was pretty much written off, or at least half written off. This week I am returning home from holiday on Wednesday before which my training plan has me doing two runs, an 8 miler and a 9 miler. I was planning on just running a 5 mile loop but this would mean that this week's schedule would also be affected and at would hurt my OCD sensibilities too much.

In the end I decided to push the 9 miler back until Thursday when I am in the UK and I would go all out and run the 8 miler while I am here in Cyprus.

On Sunday I managed to run 6 miles without dying so I thought that 8 miles may just about be possible if I got up early enough to avoid the heat.

It turns out it was possibly my favourite run of the entire holiday. I had mapped out a loop route that would take me from my hotel 2 miles along a coastal path, then cut inland for 4 miles around the back of the hotel where it rejoins the coastal path again for another 2 miles to bring me back to the hotel. Up at 5:45am, out by 6:15am and just over an hour later I was back at the hotel changed into my swimming shorts and cooling down in the indoor pool for 10 to 15 minutes. I got to watch the sun come up over the hills east of Paphos and it looked beautiful, such are the bonuses of running in a foreign land.

So on this holiday I have done 5 runs in total, which is 27 miles, about 30 fewer than my schedule required but given that over 18 weeks I will have run about 800 miles I guess that 30 miles is no great issue.

Looking forward to getting home again. 10 nights is just about right for a beach holiday I reckon. We have done pretty much nothing apart from sitting by the pool reading and swimming a bit to cool down. Not my usual sort of holiday but I have to say I've really enjoyed it. It will be nice to get back home and see the cat again, although I doubt she's missed us at all.

Location:Pafos,Cyprus

Feeling Hot, Hot, Hot

I have so far managed two runs on my holiday (out of 5 days). A 4 miler and a 5 miler. Both have finished with me covered head to toe in sweat. The humidity is so high in the morning that the sweat doesn't get a chance to evaporate so just clings to you. Very uncomfortable. The alternative is to wait a few hours so that the humidity goes down. The flip side is that the temperature soars. Robbing Peter to pay Paul.

My marathon schedule is not being followed. It would be nigh on impossible to do so in these conditions so I am just maintaining fitness instead of increasing it. Once I get back home next week I'll get back on track.

Another problem is that my watch has broken again. This is the replacement watch that I had because my touch screen became semi-responsive. Well this time the touch screen has become totally unresponsive. It's barely four weeks old! To be fair to Garmin I contacted them and they've agreed to replace it again no questions asked. I can still use it as a fancy stopwatch that also tracks my GPS but that's about it. I'll send it off when I return home.

Having said all of that the running paths around here are very pleasant. Pretty much flat as a pancake and nice coastal views. Tomorrow I think I'll try a 6 miler although I'll probably end up as a puddle on the floor.

But now it's time for breakfast and then to hit the pool!

Location:Pafos,Cyprus

Holidays

I'm writing this from a balcony in a hotel in Cyprus. So far I have not missed a single training session but this may well change over the next 10 days. Running on holiday is a curious thing. The intention is always to get out and carry on with the schedule as if nothing has changed but as more drinks are consumed in the evening it becomes more and more clear that things are not the same. Namely that I wouldn't normally be waking up at 6am nursing a hangover in order to go for an 8 mile run to avoid the heat of the sun.

Here in Cyprus there appears to be a very small window in which it is comfortable to be able to run (for me at least). The humidity is incredible. I have put a pair of swimming shorts out on the balcony to dry and by the morning they are still damp! The temperature is around 24C at 6am and this rapidly rises to 30C by 9am. This means I have to either a) get up in the middle of the night to go running or b) adjust my expectations of what I think will be achievable while I am here.

I am sure that if I can get out and run 4 or 5 miles every other day (or more) then my fitness will be maintained and I can get back on the schedule when I return home next week.

There is always the option of using the running machines in the hotel gym but I'm not a fan.

As I write this I can see a path between my hotel and the beach that is being used by many runners. I'm not sure if any of them are training for a marathon or not but at least it's a popular route. It's always good to run on holiday when possible as it gives you a different viewpoint of the place you are saying (I'm pretty sure I've said that before on this blog somewhere). The problem is getting the legs out of bed to do it.

Up until now my training has been going brilliantly. I've got two 20 mile runs in the bag. The second of which I ran 5 minutes faster than the first one which is always a good sign of progress. Last week was my biggest training week so far, 55 miles. Even the mid-week medium long runs don't seem that long anymore. Which must mean my fitness is building up. Lets just hope that I don't lose it during this holiday!

Location:Pafos,Cyprus