3 mile Handicap and 3rd 20 mile training
Thursday night completed the 3rd successive Club handicap - and the last of the winter season - round Wells Street common. A run that was once seen as a chore is now a challenge to see how far I can beat my previous effort.
No Dave R to push me this month. I was set off on a time of 19 minutes and felt far less fleet of foot than previously. The first lap went well. The new guy who set off with me had me in his pocket though and I was in his trail of dust early on. No problem though. I kept at it, running my own race and trying to ensure I didn't do myself a disservice. Second lap was a real struggle but I pushed on and whilst feeling that I wasn't on the pace, came home in 18:55 beating last months time by 25 seconds. Nicely, the mental strength was there and from training hard and focusing, I'm seeing the effect on the times coming down in most of my running.
On the 3rd of my longest training runs this morning, I ran just under 20 miles in 2 hours 40 minutes. Compared to last week, I was much more comfortable and didn't take long to recover. On the mental side, I flagged a bit again at 17.5 ish miles and didn't think the legs would carry me home. By pushing on and getting nearer the finish though I found the pace quicken and with my fellow runner made it back to the clubhouse with a sprint finish. Really happy about that. After the disaster with my carbohydrate intake last week, today was a much more comfortable experience. I felt calm in the stomach from start to finish moreorless and didn't need as much as Lucozade had been recommending me the previous week.
On little sleep due to a fundraiser I'd held the previous night, it was satisfying to know I could pull such a run out of the bag. As I've said before, for every bad run there are many more better ones. Perfect temperatures ensured this was the case today and though I have a hectic week for my last taught week at University, I'm feeling full of confidence.
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