w/c 25 August - loadsamiles

I think this is the most miles I've ever run in a week, about 75.

I feel OK, although it's clear that i wouldn't race too well on these legs right now. I guess this is the peak week and I should be feeling like a fitter and faster runner. But I don't. I feel tired, always hungry (and craving crap food) and slow. My long run, a two-phased 23 mile off road effort was sluggish wihout being difficult, and i'm finding that mile one doesn't feel as fresh and easy as it normally does. The good thing is, mile 20-odd feels the same, not much worse, so I guess a good long rest will have be bursting to run well with bags of endurance.

It's the Lancaster Half Marathon on Sunday. I really want to do well, perhaps more than in any race for a while. The last big goal was the BGR, which wasn't a race. Since then, i've enjoyed doing various races but I've never really done one that really mattered to me like this. I really think I'm out of practice. Racing is itself an art. I've trained plenty, done loadsamiles and mixed up the speedwork and long miles, but there's been precious little racing and now's the time to add that particular bit of the jigsaw.

The Lancaster Half is a bit of a landmark. I don't know what to aim for at Berlin. This will help me work that out. If I am to realistically aim at sub 3, i need to be well under 1:25. We'll see...

Training:

Monday - 11 miles, easy
Tuesday - 9.5 miles, 2 figure of eights at Burwardsley. Ran well
Weds - 8 miles at the track. 5 * 1km, all about 3:43, with last one a bit quicker. Good even pace, good speed endurance, felt really good.
Thurs - 11 miles, easy paced run with running club. Felt a bit tired
Fri - 10.5 miles - easy paced run
Sat - rest
Sun - 23 miles - 18 miles on the Sandstone trail, 1900' climbing and then an easy 5 miles with Ian on Steve's feb treasure hunt. Tired and slow from mile one, but kept on chugging and really quite enjoyed an autumnal run on the trails.

Summary - 75 miles, really tired after all that. 6 runs.

Tune in head - The Chain, Fleetwood Mac (dummmmm, dum dum dum, dum dum, dum dum, dum dummmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm!)