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.
Third Time Lucky?
by Russell Turner - 18:57 on 25 August 2020
It looks as though I’ll be able to claim my third consecutive London Marathon medal after all – today I snaffled a guaranteed Cats Protection place for Virtual London on October 4, which means the 16-week training programme I began in mid-May for the rescheduled Edinburgh Marathon will now end after 20 weeks and a 100km Virtual Race To The Stones with 26.2 miles on the Black Isle.
The most likely route will involve two seven-mile circuits from The Rural Retreat and an out and back to Cromarty, but the weather will have the last word. Time will tell. The run has to take place on October 4, so I won’t have the option to shift it, as Sunday’s long run was, because I was tired and didn’t fancy the wind.
Rather than run it hard (which I don’t think I’m up to anyway) I kept yesterday’s half marathon easy, yet finished only a few seconds slower than at the Great Scottish Run last year and with an average heart rate of 132bpm compared with 146. I’m definitely getting fitter. I even judged the Tailwind better, although there was still some left at the end.
Whether I can keep up a sub-5hr pace for Virtual London, which happens six days short of the third anniversary of my beginning the Couch to 5k, remains to be seen, but this could finally be the year. At the very least I should beat last year’s Yorkshire Marathon 5:29.
Cats Protection asks £2,000 in sponsorship for the real marathon. For the virtual one there’s no set target beyond covering the £20 registration fee. I hope I’ll manage a bit more than that.
Add your comment
© Russell Turner 2008-2024