Eezy Peezy Twentythreezy

I wanted/needed to run 23 miles last weekend. The usual routine would have seen me run 12 miles of my 13 mile loop then retrace my steps.  I didnt really fancy doing that though so instead I went out to the hilly Talkin/Foresthead circuit in the shadow of the Northern Pennine hills, and ran a few laps there.

Not really knowing what pace might be equal to a flat road pace, I opted not to time my laps at all. I probably ran slower than I should - especially as I deliberately held back on the steep downhills to keep my legs from getting battered. It felt a very easy run but I'm hoping the time on feet (approx 3hrs) will have benefited me, and hopefully the 2000+ ft of climbing within the 23m will have made up a little for the lack of effort.

Next day I sought out a brand new route along the River Eden. Utilising the bypass' new road bridge I was able to run approx 8 miles offroad with Scamp. Again very easy pace.

This morning I have been out already and completed my Tuesday run one day early. I could tell whilst walking Scamp prior to going running that my legs werent in a great state - feeling very lethargic. Nevertheless I set out on the 10 mile loop and ran 8miles hard from 1m to 9m. The average pace of 6:13 is nowt to write home about - especially as I have ran 6:14 pace for 16 miles recently. However, it was a blustery day and I didnt have Daz to feed off like last week. Had this been completed at my usual evening training time I am sure I would have ran it faster, but not to worry - its done now, the benefit of the training will not be much different compared to my desired pace and I now can look forward to a slightly easier time of things midweek.