Hard
Friday: I finally got out for a slow 7.5 around Maidenhead in the afternoon (the reason for all these 6.30 am starts: 4½ day week). Very average – although mild enough to get the shorts and t-shirt on for only the second time this year. My legs still felt a little tender from Sunday – they got sore quicker. Basic culinary experience tells us that repeated hammering of meat causes tenderisation.
Sunday: The big 18. 7½ laps of my usual circuit – plus the three short detours to pick up a new water bottle and some figs from the front garden, making up an extra half mile.
This was hard. H.A.R.D. hardy hardy hard. Mr Hardy "Hard" McHardle of Hardfordshire. The hardest run I’ve done so far I think. My legs ached. My back ached – until I sorted my form out about a mile from the end. After five laps (12.5 miles) I was struggling – much more than at the same point in the previous 15 and 16 mile runs. Or so I remember, anyway – the memory has a habit of blocking out the bad bits, otherwise we’d never do anything difficult more than once.
I could have easily given up at the final drink stop at 15 miles. But there was never any real question of me doing that. It’s not as though I was in any real pain. Just a bit of an ache, and knowing how good stopping would feel. In the end it was just a case of deciding to delay that relief for another 22 minutes or so.
I finished in under 2:55. IF I could maintain that pace for another hour or so, on race day I would be finishing around 4:10, outside my target of 4:00 which seemed so easy after last week’s triumphant half marathon. Conclusion: never place the words "easy" and "marathon" in the same sentence.
Today: John Wayne legs. I also have one problem toe, which has been bruised under the nail for a couple of weeks, and was very sore after yesterday – that’s recovering a bit. On the plus side, I checked my schedule and realised that this week is a step-back – only 14 miles required on Sunday rather than the 20 I’d thought. Bliss.
Sunday: The big 18. 7½ laps of my usual circuit – plus the three short detours to pick up a new water bottle and some figs from the front garden, making up an extra half mile.
This was hard. H.A.R.D. hardy hardy hard. Mr Hardy "Hard" McHardle of Hardfordshire. The hardest run I’ve done so far I think. My legs ached. My back ached – until I sorted my form out about a mile from the end. After five laps (12.5 miles) I was struggling – much more than at the same point in the previous 15 and 16 mile runs. Or so I remember, anyway – the memory has a habit of blocking out the bad bits, otherwise we’d never do anything difficult more than once.
I could have easily given up at the final drink stop at 15 miles. But there was never any real question of me doing that. It’s not as though I was in any real pain. Just a bit of an ache, and knowing how good stopping would feel. In the end it was just a case of deciding to delay that relief for another 22 minutes or so.
I finished in under 2:55. IF I could maintain that pace for another hour or so, on race day I would be finishing around 4:10, outside my target of 4:00 which seemed so easy after last week’s triumphant half marathon. Conclusion: never place the words "easy" and "marathon" in the same sentence.
Today: John Wayne legs. I also have one problem toe, which has been bruised under the nail for a couple of weeks, and was very sore after yesterday – that’s recovering a bit. On the plus side, I checked my schedule and realised that this week is a step-back – only 14 miles required on Sunday rather than the 20 I’d thought. Bliss.
