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Snow Dope
With today's golf called off without so much as a flake falling I welcomed the chance to add another morning plod to my calendar. By the time I'd got to the bigger hills we faced a flesh-ripping blizzard. Still wearing shorts - it's just not cold enough for the Max Wall outfit - my knees turned bright pink, frozen beads clinging to the extended leg hairs like tiny jewels. My face glowed as the icy barbs lanced in.
Lanced? Yes, well, perhaps the least said about last night's Doprah Winfrey debacle the better. Nicole Cooke was good value on the radio this morning, pulling no punches in her condemnation of a duplicitous man who has successfully sued no end of people and businesses over the years based on an ugly lie. Armstrong says he didn't seek an advantage, only to 'keep pace with everyone else'. Fuck off, Lance. And get your wallet ready. It's about to take a pounding.
The hounds frolicked, loving the feeling of the cool, crisp carpet under their galloping feet. I chugged along, more concerned with remaining upright. I needn't have worried. These new Mizuno's are the dog's Cajones, grappling with the slipperiest flint and frozen ruts without so much as a slip.
Earlier this week I'd been out for some short, sharp speed sessions. Yesterday was a toughie, an incremental speed trial. 60 seconds flat out, 60 seconds recovery, 120 seconds flat out, 60 seconds recovery then 4 minutes at quicker-than-race pace. I was disappointed at the oxygen deficiency on the first section. This improved on the longer sprints, mainly because my pace dropped. Pace was sub 6 m/m, sub 6.30 m/m and bang on 7 m/m respectively. On Tuesday I banked 10 x 30 second sprints with 30 second recoveries, working as hard as I could. My glutes hummed with the effort.
I'll get back to all this in February. For now, Almeria looms large on the horizon so after Sunday's planned long run with the ladies it's taper time. My race plan remains to go out hard. My fear is that I'll be left hanging on for too long at the end, slowing down way short of the full distance. Yet I see no point in plodding round in two hours. Might as well give it a shot, eh?
The Team RC/ GB Almeria squad lines up like this:
Julie, Cam, Gillybean, Marian, Simon plus one, Louise (@pinkyandnobrain on twitter). The latter is a late conscript from Lewes who I've run with a couple of times. She has youth and enthusiasm on her side. I don't know yet if she's entered the half or the 9k, but with more than a smattering of Espanol in her locker I expect she will have a cracking time.
On, on.
The harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph
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