Familiar ground

Terrible weather this morning - cold, and heavy rain - perfect running conditions. Actually, 5 deg C warmer and lighter rain would have been preferable as I was quite cold despite trying very hard during my run around Gelt Woods. With Milly seemingly not keen to join me on the Talkin circuit I opted to wait a day for my long run. This allows me to get a decent short run completed on Saturday. After a warmup lap I removed my long sleeve top and blasted around the waterlogged forest tracks in 30mins 50 seconds. That's about 1 minute slower than my fastest ever lap, which, considering the poor conditions underfoot and cold weather was a decent result.

This Gelt circuit is another one I used to run round a lot in the past. Being mostly in woods, with just a couple of open fields and a short stretch of tarmac, it can often be quite sheltered in poor weather. It's about 4.5 miles but we always think of it as 5 miles because the steep hills, rough terrain and several stiles/gates make it roughly equal to that distance on a flatter surface.

After Tuesdays super 14 mile effort run I was very very tired on Wednesday. It was as much due to not going to bed until nearly 1 am as the hard run. I didn't go running as I thought a hard run would have a negative effect and I was too late home to make a jog worth bothering with. Then on Thursday I was again short of time so just went for an hours jog with the dogs. Thursday evening I had a sports massage - very painful. Worthwhile though as it helps keep on top of any tiny niggles and flushes away waste from the deep tissues. It would be nice to have this done every week during this intensive type of training but of course it isn't a free service and I therefore tend to get it done about 4 or 5 times in the final 10-12 weeks prior to a marathon.

Friday I was late again and didn't bother with a run, making it a rather short mileage week. Tomorrow I plan to do a 26miler around Talkin but if the weather is as poor as today I might reevaluate (as the circuit is very high and exposed).