Wednesday, Week 11

11 Miles, Steady

Long tempo run home from work which felt pretty good despite the rain and the long hill from 5 miles at Kirkstall Abbey all the way up the the Emmott Arms in Rawdon at 9 miles. Did it in just over 7m30s per mile pace, so slower than marathon pace, but then Blackpool is a bit flatter.

Have just finished reading 'Feet In The Clouds' about Fell Running, which has both inspired me and made me reposition my achievements. It's also made me think very hard about whether to give a fell race a try or not.

Tuesday, Week 11

1 mile jog, then 5 X 1 mile fast with 200m jog recoveries, then 1 mile jog

My cold had now come back and filled up my head, but managed a good set of repeats during a long lunchbreak at work all under 6m40s without the expected drop off towards the end.

Not as spectacular as I would have liked, but it matches up well enough to previous years, and is another day nearer the end of this cold.

Monday, Week 11

4 Miles, Easy

Saturday, Week 10

20 Miles, Slow

The cold that had cast its shadow over the last week of runs finally came out and I decided to miss the Thursday tempo run and the Good Friday recovery run.

So, woke up early on Easter Saturday ready for a gentle, easy run to nurse me back to into training, pulled back the curtains and was blinded by the three inches of snow that had fallen overnight.

I had no excuses or chance to postpone because the In-laws were coming the next day, so out onto the virgin pavements.

The first two or three miles were slow going, but not too slippery as the snow was so deep. I kept thinking that my feet would get frozen solid, but I never even felt the wet. The cushioning was great for my knees too.

So, feeling positive I managed not to get too wound up by the drivers out early, driving too fast and obviously in too much of a hurry to do anything beyond switching their windscreen wipers before setting off. Heading through Guiseley I heard, then saw a Ka who had come off worst in an argument with a lamppost.

Up to the top of Hollins Hill, and I completed my full set of views - a snowscape stretching off towards Keighley and Haworth to go with the sun, cloud, rain and wind I have seen from up there in the last few weeks.

Amazingly got to my Baildon checkpoint under the hour, then past a family with a fully built snowman at 8:30 and on to Bingley.

Still hitting my ordinary targets despite the slow start I came back along the canal, which was just wet, not snowy, but once again struggled coming up the big hill to Rawdon, and then was back to snow underfoot for the last two slow miles.

Great run though - definitely a character building one to inspire me in low points during the marathon, and it was back home for a hot bath and a chance to look forward to the Easter Weekend