Relevant training

It's been a fabulous week for training.  My easy week.  Having put in some tough weeks I was given a week where it started with 2 days off.  This allowed me to get my calf/foot sortred and taped by my amazing sports therapist Pamela Loch.  It might have been an hour of discomfort, and bloody sore, but with the heavy schedule the previous two weeks it was necessary as my plantar faciatis was starting to play up.  This really flares up when I first get out of bed and am limping for 10 minutes before it settles down. Therefore having a easier week with only 5 runs and 44 kms felt effortless.
Having said effortless, my first run was with my much younger neighbour who bounces along like Tigger and full of beans.  It was a 9k run (122m gain) and ended up my fastest this year with an average speed of 5:05 mins per km.Whilst I enjoyed it, on reflection it wasn't what I was meant to have done and it made me realise I need to stick with the plan, which is still all about getting my heart rate down.
On Friday I ran with my nephew and my pace was 5:43 min per km but my average heart rate was 153 with a max of 171 bpm.  There was 172m of gain and some was on trail but this HR was much higher than my target of 135-145.
Today was a short 6 km run with a 94m gain, 5:26 min per km and my heart rate averaged 122 (max 141).  That's more like it and it felt effortless.
My total stats for February was 269km of running with 4,363m of ascent.
The lesson I am taking away from my analysis is that I need to focus on what I need and while I enjoy running with partners, I need to be selfish about controlling the pace and not getting carried away.  Yes I can run faster but that's not doing me any good based on my goal - 6 marathons in 7 days in the Romanian mountains.  My coach keeps telling me to slow down and it's not easy easpecially on the down hills.  But she's right so I am going to have to be more disciplined and ignore how I look running at "granny pace".
Train at the pace/distance/terrain/ascent that is relevant for the goals you have set.  It may be different from your pals and as we're in lockdown, maybe now is the time to get the relevant training done.  My journey continues and I'm looking forward to the early morning runs now it's brighter and reducing the number of layers I'm wearing.  Get out there whether you're walking, running or cycling - enjoy.