I honestly don't know what to think of this weeks training. I went over my training for the week - I had an added run as I forgot about plans at the weekend. Part of me thinks I did well. Another part is a little disappointed. I'll explain more below.

Week 7 Training Schedule

Day Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday Sunday

Scheduled Swim 3 Miles 5 Miles Rest/CT 3 Miles Rest/CT 9 miles

What I Did Swimming for an hour 3 Miles 5 Miles Swimming - 30 mins 2 Miles Park Run - 5k 9 horrible miles ;)

Training started off well this week, I had my 3 miler and 5 miler that weren't too bad. My legs felt quite tired and heavy on my 5 miler run and I was slower than usual which is a little disappointing but it wasn't about pace, it was just about the mileage which was OK.

I don't know if these runs are sometimes off because I've run the day before? I'm not sure if I should switch Tuesday and Wednesday runs so that I do the longer mileage run first and the shorter one the day after? OR Maybe it's been put that way for a reason and I shouldn't change it at all?

I had a 3 miler scheduled for Friday but I went to bed too late the night before and woke up later the next morning feeling groggy - ended up not having enough time to get in all my miles.

I actually forgot that Phillip, his mum and I had planned to do the park run on Saturday, so technically, I shouldn't have even done Fridays run.

I went to watch Phillip and his mum do an open water swim at Milton Country Park and then we all went to do the park run at 9 am - I've never done a park run, I didn't know what to expect but I thought it was great. It was SO busy though and it got really hot too!

I did my first park run in 29:41 -  not my best time but it was OK. I hadn't properly planned for the run that morning and I was only running on a flapjack oat bar and no water(newbie mistake!). Next time I do a park run, I'll be more prepared!

Then came my 9 miler this past Sunday. It was one of the worst runs I've had so far during my training. I went out too late thinking it would be OK. It wasn't, it was hot as f*ck! I took my hydration pack out with me with some cooled fridge water to help cool me down.
I stopped about a mile and a half into my run as my hydration pack wasn't sitting right and my headphones were bugging me.

I was OK up until the half way point. After that, I really struggled. I was struggling with energy, my legs were like lead and i was finding it pretty hard to breathe with the heat. I must have stopped 6-7 times on the way back home - I even got emotional at 7 miles and almost called Phillip to come and pick me up.

I managed to get home, feeling slightly defeated - but I think I had over done it and worn myself out. I'd swam on Thursday, and then ran 3 days in a row with no rest - usually I have a rest day before my long run so I'm guessing over doing it combined with the heat was just a bad idea! I wont be doing this in future!

Week 8 Training Schedule

So, this is what I have scheduled for this week, however, I know that this is going to change already.

I have a team triathlon(Monster Olympic) that I'm competing in this week. There are two teams of us in the race from Tesco. Phillip and his mum are doing the swim leg of the race, there are some people from at Tesco taking biking legs and I'm taking one of the places for the 7 mile running leg along with someone else from Tesco.

So, instead of doing a 10 miler this weekend, I'll be doing a 7 mile race instead - and since I want to be prepared and fresh for race day, I'll most likely be skipping my Friday run too to give me the best possible chance of having a good run!

I'm not worried about the change in schedule though as I'm swapping this weeks and next weeks runs - next week calls for a 10 km race so I'm just swapping the weeks over and doing the 10 miler next week instead.

All I need for this week is some luck.. as the hills around Ely are a little nasty and since I don't really have hills where I run, I haven't exactly trained for them!

Do you cope well with exercising in the heat? Do you have any tips for making it more bearable?