Happily Ever After
Life in The Rural Retreat with a beautiful wife, three cats, garden wildlife, a camera, a computer – and increasing amounts about running
Earlier posts can be found on Adventures of a Lone Bass Player, where this blog began life. Recent entries can be found here.
Longer And Longer
by Russell Turner - 17:52 on 30 August 2018
Another long run down – 14 miles today – and three left before the luxury of a three-week taper and t’ Yorkshire Marathon on October 14. I’m looking forward to a proper rest after The Big Day, unlike after London when I gave myself just a week off running. Fool.
As always, I began with the optimistic hope that this would be the run when everything clicked into place and I’d finish smiling, capable of another dozen energetic miles. And as always, on any real long run (which I class as anything over 10 miles – who’d have thought it?), I messed up my run/walk ratios and finished barely capable of the short walk home.
Not consuming enough energy gels didn’t help, but I find them increasingly unpalatable – certainly the SIS brand. I’ll return to Torq next time, unless I take up Matchgirl’s offer to use her stash of Chia Charge which she fears will be past its use-by date before she’s able to run again. Her recovery is still some weeks from its end and she definitely won’t be running beside me in York. Shame – I need all the help I can get if I’m not to walk almost the entire second half again.
Matchgirl listed several reasons for impaired performance: a warm day, lots of late nights with City Limits, the undeniable fact that I’m an ‘older’ runner. And the last few long runs are supposed to be hard, she helpfully pointed out. Unusually, the glass-half-empty girl also found some positives: my heart rate stayed acceptably low for the whole 2:52 hours it took me to cover 14 miles (although it should have done, the speed I was going), and I completed the distance.
Next week, after two more late nights with the band, the schedule has me running three hours or 14-16 miles. At the moment, if I can cover 15 I’ll be happy. Fortunately (although not for my pocket) the gig diary thins out a little after two dates this weekend: one gig next weekend, two the following one, then none on the weekend of my final, 18-20-mile, long run. Even better, there’s one gig on the first week of taper then nothing until after the marathon, so I might be able to catch up with some sleep.
Forty-five days to go.
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