Well it's all about the running now, less than a month to London and its run, run, run and run some more. It's the Reading Half marathon on Sunday which means by the end of that I'll have a good idea about what is achievable over the full marathon distance. Half marathon makes it sound like an easy event, but it's no such thing; running at around 8 minutes per mile for just under 2 hours could actually be harder on the lungs and chest than 4 hours of trudging around London, although the legs should cope a whole lot better.
Almost 3 months worth of training done now and my body is starting to feel the mileage, every long run finds the same aches and pains getting a little worse and the rest days seem to fly by with my general energy levels lower than I'd like. A stubborn nature and good motivation can't always overcome 41 years of wear and tear. After I've done the marathon I think a couple of real quiet weeks will go down well before I start to focus on my first triathlon in June. I'm fitter now than ever before and mentally I know I can cope with hours of exercise. The body seems to need some R&R and who am I to ignore it.
Week 12
Monday rest day as usual, but I do find time to fit my new clip on aero bars. As much as I'd love to get out and give them a test that just isn't an option; I'm knackered and hungry and it's just not worth risking injury so close to race day, maybe tomorrow.
Tuesday morning and my right knee is all swollen, it was hurting when I went to bed and it's no better this morning. I need this like a hole in the head. It hurts when I move it and when I'm sitting still, that's not a good sign. Definitely no exercise and with 5 days till Reading this doesn't look good, hopefully it's just some extra rest that's needed. Lets see tomorrow.
Okay, the knee is better today so I think I'll try some light exercise, no running, I'll go for an hour's easy riding on the bike and that will give me a chance to try out my new bars. Well after an hour and 20km everything seems good. The knee feels okay and my first introduction to the areo position felt okay as well. Things are looking much better than they did yesterday.
Thursday and after yesterday's ride I think I'll stick to just a run today. Work is pretty busy again so a moonlight run later seems like the best option. The knee feels fine, I have no idea what the swelling was all about, but it's gone and lets leave it at that. I want to get a feel for race pace for Sunday so I'm going to do 4.4 miles (one third race distance). Debbie gets home from work and off I set, the pace feels quite easy and I cover the distance in a smidgen under the required pace. All good.
This Friday is my last cricket nets so an hour of nothing too strenuous goes down a treat, bag sorted for the weekend, food and hydration all planned. Just need to get to the start line in good shape and do the do.
The family are all coming to Reading so we are staying in a hotel near the race venue tonight so we can make a weekend of it and we don't have to get up at some hideous time in the morning.The boys love buffet breakfasts and staying away from home. When we get to the hotel we found we booked the wrong one and we've booked one right next to the start line and half the pro runners are staying in the same hotel. I've never seen so many skinny people in all my life.
Early rise Sunday morning and a healthy buffet breakfast as my 2 boys tuck into the full monty including pastries. A quick walk around to the Madjeski Stadium, the usual 6 pees, number on, another wee then off to the start line. It's nice and sunny and reasonably warm so after a good stretch I'm ready for the off. Here we go 13.1 miles of tarmac. It's the usual slow start as people get over the start line and you have to get past the runners that have no idea how long the run will take. How can you be almost walking inside the first mile?
After about 15 minutes I get into a good rhythm and the miles seem to pass by quite well, I use the mile markers to check my pace and that's good too. After 11 miles my pace hasn't slowed and I feel pretty good, easily able to talk to the other runners not in bits and enjoy the run. I don't feel the need to speed up, just keep it steady to the end. Into the stadium and across the line. Last year my time was 1:59:16 and I wanted to go below 1:50:00 this year, so I was very pleased with 1:43:34. 16 minutes faster than last year and that gives me an average pace of under 8 minutes per mile. I was feeling fine on the run right till the end, but 25 minutes later I can certainly feel it, my thighs really do ache now. I'm not looking forward to tomrrow.
3 weeks till London...
Training this week
Swimming 0 hours
Cycling 1 hour
Running 0.75 hours
Competition 1.75 hours
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