Janathon 2011

[marathondan]

Week 8 (of 19)

Wednesday – a rare daylight foray, as I gave my occasional lunchtime route the fartlek treatment. It’s a pleasant circuit, taking in the Grand Union canal and Horsenden Hill. I tried an uncontrolled descent through the wooded glade on the back of the hill, but wet clay carpeted with dead leaves isn’t the best surface for traction and I was forced to assume a more measured pace.

Friday – I’d hoped to get a second daylight run in this week, but today was looking busy so I took the decision to set the alarm for 0600. It wasn’t a pleasant prospect: with the plan calling for 6 miles at fast pace, on an empty stomach this was going to be a men-from-boys, going-gets-tough affair. However, having overcome the mental hurdle of getting out the door, the familiar inverse law applied and it turned out to be a successful outing – a shade over 10K inside 50 mins race pace, and all before breakfast.

Saturday – I ran around the garden with a play tunnel on my head. I think with some garden canes for bracing, I may be able to go for a really impressive height to the costume, over 9ft tall. But, tragically, this one is really going to need road testing. Last year I bottled running round the streets dressed as a gorilla; this time I don’t think there can be any excuses.

Sunday – 12.5 miles easy pace. I abandoned the mp3 player in favour of the sound of my own thoughts, but they didn’t make noticeably more sense than the usual radio programmes. It was a fairly comfortable run, but I was a little disappointed with the time, coming home in 4:04 marathon pace. I like to keep my long runs just under 4 hour pace; it’s a nice check that everything is going well. I note from my extensive records that the equivalent run last year was two and a half minutes quicker. Still, job done; onwards and upwards.