With now only five weeks to go I am approaching the peak of my training schedule with several 20 mile distances comprising my usual weekend excitement.
There is nothing like the prospect of a 20-mile run each Sunday to make the arrival of Monday morning really quite attractive!
I ran the East Hull 20 at the weekend and was very pleased to do it in 2:58.
Whilst this was not a personal best, I was running with a temperature and painful chesty cough.
If I hadn’t been training for London I wouldn’t have run 20 miles as it is really not advisable from a health perspective – as well as contributing to a quite miserable experience with an aching body from start to finish!
But, as this race was quite significant in my training schedule I thought I would at least try to get round.
I am pleased I did and whilst I did not take away confidence of feeling strong at this distance (as I felt incredibly weak for the whole race) I am pleased I found the strength to maintain the pace needed for a sub four hour marathon.
Pace is one of my weak points – I usually set off too quickly and then fade.
My plan at the weekend was to conserve energy by running at just under nine-minute pace for the first 15 miles and then pushing on for the remainder.
In my dreams!!
The last five miles involved me hanging on in there to come in at just under three hours.
In theory pacing yourself throughout the race allows you to conserve energy so that you have enough for the whole journey.
However, my mechanical failures at the weekend meant this theory could not be adequately tested.
These ‘mechanical’ problems have been preceded by a number of ‘electrical’ failures over the last week.
Having placed my GPS on the roof of my car to ‘lock on’ to the satellite, I proceeded to drive off and only realised six miles later what I had done!
I quickly returned to the junction where I thought we had parted company fearing that my GPS would have been picked up by a passing motorist or flattened by a tractor or HGV.
I was overjoyed to find it intact with only minor strap damage!
Another temporary loss was my snood which was on my head at the start of a run and was not there when I got home
It had blown off and I had not even noticed!
Here’s hoping I keep a grip on my sanity over the coming weeks!!