Week 29: Mon 21 – 27 July

Run: 5hrs 23min (38.9mi) / Gym: 11mins / Crosstrain: 1hr 4mins

Week 29 had the feel of one of those matches where the scoreboard looks tidy but the legs tell a different story. Monday was wisely taken as a rest day, the afterglow of the Peterborough train run still in the system. Tuesday was the sort of session you’d design if you wanted to test your lungs and your sense of humour: a sprint ladder climbing from 400 to 1600 metres before descending back down, with just enough recovery to remember what pain feels like. Later, there was a second act — some knee maintenance and a cautious flirtation with barefoot running on the treadmill in Vibrams, 25 minutes forefoot, five minutes regular stride, the long-term project of building strength from the ground up.

Wednesday kept things civilised with an hour on the turbo trainer, while Thursday brought the weekly reminder that tempo pace is as much about stubbornness as speed. Two miles to ease in, three miles locked at roughly 6:40 pace — a number that once lived in the “goal marathon” column, now the line in the sand — then a two-mile shuffle to close. Friday evening came with an easy run folded into football training, the kind of mileage that barely counts on paper but matters in the margins. The weekend was where the mileage really stacked: 14 miles on Saturday, then a slightly extended Sunday loop, both disciplined at a low 130bpm and yet still clipping along at an 8:12 pace. With holiday on the horizon, the aim was simple — fill the tank while the legs are playing ball.