Reflecting on the Week - 11th January

Distance: 5 km
Time: 0.23
Elevation: 27 m
Fastest pace: 4:20/km
Max HR: 172 bpm

I spent Monday and Tuesday in bed feeling rough, then edged back into things, not the start of the year and working week I needed. I managed a 5km just to see if I was “ready” on Saturday, decided that I would run again on Monday. It was frustrating, missing 2 days of work has put me on the back foot there, not a great start to 2026!

The other big “session” was my triumphant return to the gym. I say triumphant. In reality it was a humbling reminder that if you skip strength work for long enough, the bar gets very heavy very quickly. No distance, no elevation, just 39 minutes of creaky squats and wobbly core work. It is all part of the Badwater build though. Stronger legs and a tougher posterior chain should help keep me moving when the wheels start to come off in the desert.

With the training dialled right back, the real progress this week was on the admin side. The Badwater 135 application is now drafted, and I am in that slightly awkward phase of sending it to close running friends and asking, “Does this sound honest, or just unhinged?” Having extra eyes helps me keep perspective and remember why I want to be on that start line in the first place.

Recovery was the theme, and it forced me to slow down properly. Shorter miles, more sleep, and the discipline to stop while the cough is still hanging around. It is tempting to rush back, but if Badwater is the goal, playing the long game matters more than nailing any single week. This one was about patience, not performance.