Following the weekends training I now have a touch of tendinitis in my right leg. As that's one of the two I intend to use this Saturday to run the Brampton to Carlisle race I need to carefully manage this issue. If necessary I will defer training all week, perhaps stick to short jogs from Wednesday. It's not a big worry - I've had this happen to me many times over the years, but I may as well do everything I can to get to the start line 100%.

The weekends training was good.

Gelt was the venue on Saturday. I had decided not to challenge Plucky this week as I had been feeling pretty tired. Not just sleepy tired - struggling to get out of bed of a morning type tired. Something more than that. I've been unusually aware of my legs, or more specifically the little pains within them for the last week or two. On one occasion I remember running on the track thinking 'why does my left like have that undesirable feeling every time I land on it and not my right?' Its all due to the particularly hard training schedule I have stuck to this last couple of months. Even the 'easy' weeks have tended to include a race at one end or the other.

Anyway, Plucky seemed intent on running the lap pretty hard, and whilst not wanting to challenge him I certainly wasnt about to let him run off into the distance either. Conditions were poor - very wet, therefore muddy and slippery, so I didn't expect a great lap time whatever the effort. On the big tarmac uphill section I found Pluckys pace to be almost ridiculously easy. I know he was trying equally as hard here as on the flat or downhill sections so it highlighted to me how I have improved my power to weight ratio over the last few weeks as I have become fitter and also managed to shed 4 or 5 pounds in weight. The lap continued, Plucky pushing on, me on his shoulder. We finished with a time of 31:15. Quite remarkable really given the poor conditions and the fact that I had spent much of the lap running well below my capacity.

Sundays run was 10 miles, running 4-11, 4-11, 4-11, 4-11. (4easy, 11hard)
I last ran this in late September and took 63mins 52 with an average heart rate of 162. This latest occasion my time was 59 seconds faster with 2 heartbeats lower average. A further good sign. Historically I have ran this session just inside 60minutes - so whilst I am certainly running very well lately, I remain a long way from my best of 2003-2004.