Monday, Week 14

4 Miles, Easy

Not rain this time. Hail

Sunday, Week 13

18 Miles, Easy

Woke up, got changed then started wondering what the hammering noise I could hear was. And guess what? - it was the rain.

Trying to feel positive, I took off my mp3 player and got out into the wet morning.Actually felt pretty good, and ran well all the way to the Baildon checkpoint in 56 mins - I used to be pleased to go under an hour.

Still raining.

Once on the canal tow path at Shipley though, thing started to slow down a bit. Still felt strong, but I had to run all over the place to avoid the widening puddles. Ended up doing a lot of running on the spipperly wet grass next to the canal, or zig-zagging from side to side.

Still raining.

Beyond Apperley Bridge on the way to Rodley it got even worse and I was just running through mud and puddles with no opportunity to even try to miss them. At Rodley I thought I'd cleverly avoid the cycle trap by swinging round the fence by the canal, not realising that my hands had ceased to be able to grip. Just avoided a dip.

Still raining.

Got to Newlay and by now was back down to the time that I did last year's run in (mind you, I was delighted with it last year). At about the point that the gun was going in the London Marathon 200 miles south, I was stopping to do up my shoelaces, and doing a double take when I saw how black my legs were from the mud.

Back up the hill, and home in a time 30 seconds slower than last year and I'd done the section from Apperly Bridge to Newlay about 3 minutes slower.

Still raining.After 3 sweeps to scrub my legs clean, I managed to make my way downstairs to watch the FLM.

Only 2 weeks to go, and still feeling good.


Friday, Week 13

4.5 Miles, Easy

Soaking wet run AGAIN.

I'm sure it hasn't been this wet in the last 4 years.

All I can say is, after all these wet, cold runs, it had better not be hot on race day.


Thursday, Week 13

10 Miles, Steady

Soaking wet long tempo run back home from work.

Nearly run over 2 miles from home by an idiot ignoring a pedestrian crossing red light. The jog rage kept me going up the hill to Rawdon.

Finished feeling pretty exhausted. I'm still getting a sore throat some evenings, 4 weeks after my cold started. It doesn't seem to be affecting my speed or stamina as far as I can tell, but I hope I'm feeling fully recovered by the 27th.


Wednesday, Week 13

6 Miles, Slow