Run no 79

Ran a 4 miler in a fairly quick pace tonight. The Garmin ran out of battery power so have no idea the time.

Setup my Just Giving pages today and after only 1 day its'a up to over £100, suddenly feel a lot more pressure on me now.

:-)

Run no 78

Well that's the farthest training run in the bag - 22.21 miles to be exact. If I can just muster the strength for another 4 I'll be there.

:-)

As with all the long runs I'm always very apprehensive, not sure what about, failure I guess, giving up, running out of enery.

I seem to be able to find my pace within a few miles which I'm pleased about. Bar the usual near misses with traffic the run went well with no bad bits. Legs did feel like lead with about 4 miles to go but managed to get around in one piece. Had 3 minute stop to take on water and gels. Need to order some more for Inverness.

All in a good day - nice easy run tomorrow I reckon.

Run no 77

Set a PB of 55 mins exactly for my usual 6.48 miler, felt great all the way round. Hope this bodes well for my 22 miler which I've had to bring forward to Sat instead of Sun.

:-)

Run no 76

Wed 25th Aug

Nice leisurely 10k with Tommy, nothing outragious but good to have a bit of company for a change. Leg felt ok which is good.

Run no 75

Per my coach's advice ;-) I applied the Deep Heat and wore the Tubi-grip, did my usual 6.48 miler running it back to front. The leg felt a tiny bit tight but overall the run felt relaxed and easy.

Meeting Tommy for another 10k tomorrow, he said he *might* accompany me on my 22 miler on Sun. It'd be great to have a bit of companyfor a change.

;-)

Run no 74

This week hasn't been the greatest for my running what with missed days and sore legs.

Only ran once mideweek and rested for 2 days. Was supposed to do a 5 yesterday but given I was up at 4am for a car boot sale I was in bed by 9.45pm.

Decided to run today with just Deep Heat to 'test' the leg. Set out somewhat apprehensively about how it would go. Got to say I was delighted with the run. Ran a nice relaxed 10 miles and bar a bit of tighness for the few couple of miles the leg held up the whole way round and even now an hour afterwards it feels fine.

After a bit of a rubbish week running wise I'm happy to report that things seem to be back on track.

:-)

Run no 73

Damm I hate the wind, whenever I run into a strong headwind I feel like I'm hardly moving.

Anyway, did a relaxed 7.8 miler, time was unimportant and happt to report the leg felt no too bad, probably 80% better.

Up early for a car boot sale in the morning.

*yawns*

Run no 72

Rested yesterday as instructed by coach Dave ;-)

Deep Heat applied and Tubi-grip on I did my 5 miler round Livvy Village, took it nice and easy, Muscle is aching a bit but gonna head up for a nice hot bath.

:-)

Run no 71

Strained the big muscle at the back of my knee just above the joint during a 10k on Tues last week. Thought no more about it and ran again on Wed, it wasn't long before it was quite painful and by the end of the run it was pretty sore. Dave advised I have a complete layoff until Sun which I did. Got up at 5.45am this morning, and applied Deep Heat and a tubi grip around my upper right leg. Set out and made a point of taking it easy. It wasn't long before I could feel it twinging although it wasn't anywhere as near as bad as it was on Wed. Although it would be daft to run with an injury the thought of not doing this wasn't something I wanted to bear thinking about given the marathon is only about 6 weeks away. For the first quarter of the run I was concious of every little ache and pain in the right leg tho that tends to happen if you're continually thinking about it. Settled in to a comfortable 10 min/pace and the aches seemed to vanish. Stopped at the 6m mark for a delicious gel ;-) and a drink of water which I felt gave me a bit of a boost. Round the 10m mark the legs started to feel really heavy but by them I was running on auto-pilot. Took a second 1min break for another gel and mouthful of crisps snack at the 11 mile mark. The last 9 miles were ok albeit with aching legs. Unfortunately the right leg pain returned with a vengeance for the final 2 miles but by then there was no way I wasn't going to finish. Overall felt quite fresh from a breathing and energy viewpoint tho the leg was sore.

I'm very satisfied the way the run went tho am pissed off with the injury especially with the marathon so close and a few of the really important long runs scheduled. Just need to rest as much as I can and hope the old body can repair itself within time.

Following my coach's advice (Dave :-) ) I am resting until Sun to give my muscle a few days to hopefully fully recover. Missing getting out running but understand to run with an injury could affect my marathon hopes.

Run no 70

Deliberately ran a lovely slow 10k, abeit running my usual route in reverse which made it a bit more interesting. Really need to pick up a luminous jacket tho as I'm sure some cars dont see me.

Bit of a setback tonight, the large leg muscle at the back of the leg just above the knee felt very tight and painful this evening. It did feel a bit sore yesterday so I've probably strained it. Hope it eases off for Sun.

Never bothered timing myself as I just wanted to run and not worry about pace or ought.

Run no 69

Pissing with rain and never got out until after 8pm to do my 6.48 miler. Another PB, almost 5 mins off my PB coming in at 55.58 averaging 8.38 min / miles.

Not sure what's happened in these last few weeks but something has definately clicked into place and I'm now consistantly getting sub 9 min/miles, something I just couldn't crack for the first 3 months.

Sounds daft but I keep going back to when I watched the Great North on telly a few weeks ago and noticed they always held their arms in a high position as opposed to my 'down near your waist' position, a technique I'm sure I was advised to do by a someone many years ago as it helped save energy. Whatever it is it's definately given me extra zip being able to drive with my arms.

I could also be talking complete pish and it's just because I'm getting a little bit fitter. Whatever it is, I'm not complaining.

:-)

Run no 68

Set out just after 6am on what was a lovely morning. Ran the 1st mile in about 8.45 and felt I was in for a good run. Got round the 9.8 miles in just over 1hr 26 mins almost 10 mins faster than my PB, averaging 8.47 min / miles which I'm very happy about.

Not wanting to speak too soon but training seems to be going very well just now.

Just got to plan my 20 miler for Sun now........................

;-)

Run no 67

Did my 3.26 miler and took 49 seconds off my PB getting round in 27.19 averaging 8.22 min /mile.

Woot!

Run no 66 - Thursday 5th Aug 2010

A hard 4.4 mile run. Didn't run particularly fast although I'm putting it down to the fact it was very windy.

Be glad to get back to the runs I know again.

Run no 65 - Wed 4th Aug 2010

5 miler today, ran into and thru Flookburgh as far as Hocker Hall, very hilly but beautiful scenery, cetainly beats the humdrum surroundings of Livvy.

Run no 64 - Tues 3rd Aug 2010

On holiday in a caravan in the Lake District but am determined to maintain the training.

Ran 1.5 miles, stopped and ran back.

:-)

Run no 63

Dragged myself out of bed and was pounding the road just after 6am. Weather was favourable with a fairly strong headwind on the more open roads. Run went well, breathing and stamina felt fine although I did feel like I was wearing spaceman boots for the last couple of miles!

Covered 16.22 miles in 2hrs 41 mins averaging just under 10 min/miles.

Given this was another 2.22 miles farther than I've ran in my life I'm quite happy with the progress. Reckon I could have battered out a couple more hard miles.

Just 10 more miles and I've met the required quota for Inverness.

:-)

Ah 20 miles in 2 weeks time!

Run no 62 -Sat 31/7/10

Been quite a while since I did this just over 3 miler and it's still tough. Happy with the time 28.08 averaging 8.38 min/miles.

:-)