One of my more successful and consistent Augusts in the bag. No doubt this has something to do with not completing a major event in the preceding few months.
70 miles in a month is no great shakes, but is probably around my ideal monthly mileage should I ever manage to run consistently all year round. 13 outings in 31 days (plus two jogs to the garage) indicates that I've almost hit my target of running every other day. This has no doubt been helped by the school holidays, and some generous leave and part-time working for me, so weekly routines have gone out of the window.
A couple of key statistics:
Proportion of runs done in the morning: 67% (hitherto almost unheard of levels of ante-meridianal activity)
Proportion of runs enjoyed: 100% (without much time pressure, motivation has been fairly high, but every time I've come back with a sense of a job well done)
Highlights have been getting in three morning runs along
Fiume Mincio on hols - all maize farms, vineyards, sun rising above the trees, and dodging local anglers - and a road 11-miler last week, the furthest I've run in goodness knows how long. A summer holidays treat for Luke this year is going to band practice till 10pm, and I realised that rather than going home, I could use the two hour window for a long slow effort. So I mapped a loop near Waltham St Lawrence and headed into the deepening gloom - by the third lap I was running blind and there was a bit of leaping into verges to be done. But a sound slog, at 4 hour marathon pace, and I will try and get another one in this week before the return to schools curtail Luke's late nights.
I've just entered the Henley Half in mid October, to try and put this work to good use. I last ran this in 2007 (
race report - took a while to find it, as it was part of a brief foray off the forum site). It's a pleasant mixed terrain affair with a decent field, decent support, and a decent hill - just what I need. (Note pic of young man now going to band practice til 10pm.)
