Last long’un
October 14th, 2007 by lunamanSaturday’s final long (over 15 miles) run before the race. Drizzly damp morning and out to Wytham woods for the first time in months to get some hills in but without a car drive. Perfect conditions to attempt marathon pace (8 minute miling) for 18 miles, something I’ve never done before in training. The trouble is, without a GPS it’s hard to tell when you’ve gone a mile so all my pacing was a bit erratic. Some miles seemed to be 10 minutes, some took 6 minutes: I ended up just pressing my watch lap button whenever I felt like it and according to my watch ran 24 miles! Which is nonsense. By the time I re-emerged from the woods it was clear I’d underestimated my speed again and I was well inside my predicted total. Those hills, although only 500 ft ascent in all, really slow you down. I’m still very daunted by the prospect of facing a 900 foot climb after 22 miles of running.
Got a slightly tweaked knee today, so I’m giving myself the day off to eat millefeuille and celebrate an unlikely rugby victory yesterday.
Today is also the Brussels marathon, I’m actually feeling sad about missing it this year.