TRAINING RUN 4

On Sunday I ran the final training run organised by Gade Valley Harriers. My marathon training friends Claire and Charlotte couldn’t make it so I ventured to Hemel Hempstead on my own. One of the nice things about the series of runs organised by the club is how friendly they are and I was happy to go it alone. That said, I wasn’t happy to be running 20 miles!

For the first time the weather was actually quite kind, but that brought with it new issues. Having been such a cold winter, I got quite used to running in my Chill tights and Chill jacket. On Sunday morning I was filled with wardrobe dilemmas but decided on Swift knee length tights with a Swift racer back and Chill jacket. It proved a perfect combination.

I didn’t feel nearly as well prepared as I had for the 17 mile run at the end of February and I found the run so much harder. The hills seemed steeper and the miles longer. It was a fairly depressing feeling to get to mile 13, exhausted. In 2 weeks time that will only be the half way point.

I struggled on and after a particularly low point at mile 18 the last 2 miles passed in a haze. I finished in 3 hours exactly and was ready for tea and cake! Although I found it difficult I was surprised how quickly I seemed to recover and my legs don’t seem to have been as stiff as I thought they would which is positive. I now have 2 weeks of tapering (read putting my feet up and not doing much) before the big day on 11 April. Let’s hope I’ve done enough to be able to enjoy it.

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SPRING IS HERE (FINALLY!)

The last month has flown by with a few highs and lows. On the positive side, it’s been so nice to go running and not be freezing. On the wardrobe front I have been enjoying trying out some of our new styles and my current favourite is the Swift cap sleeve in berry (below). I’ve transitioned from my Chill pants to the Swift knee length and I’m sure it won’t be long before I’ll be in my City skort – although I may need to apply some fake tan to my translucent white legs!

On the downside, my running hasn’t been going very well since the 17 miler at the end of February. I took a week off during which time I had a sports massage. Well it turned out to be the worse thing I could have done. The next time I went running it just felt all wrong and since then every time I’ve been out I get a different niggle – my back, my knee, my shoulder! But hopefully that is all behind me as this week I’ve had 2 runs that seemed to be fine. I’m quite nervous about our last big training run tomorrow (20 miles) but at least we will then be on the home straight.