All kinds of stuff has been going on, but given I have the Norfolk 100K to run in late June, not enough distance work has been going on! I can’t change what I haven’t done, but some superb stuff has happened instead! This blog has turned into a journal now; and it is my hope that as it develops, it becomes punctuated with ultras!
My twin sons have been getting into parkrun! This makes me very happy! Alfie and Lewis have both ran Littleport parkrun, and recently, Lewis and me made the trip over to Brandon! Fingers crossed they keep interested! They are both knocking out sub-29s at the moment!
I have known for some time that speed/ interval work has been lacking in my own training: there are reasons for this, and work clashing with the club’s Tuesday night sessions is one of them. This is all due to change! Recently, Lauren of girlrunninglate fame (Lauren’s superb blog) led a superb speed session at the track in St Ives. I won’t get into the structure of her session, but I will say that it was superb, challenging, fun, and she explained the logic behind it, and every stage she delivered. I surprised myself a little during a final 200m sprint: I just don’t recall running that fast since I was in my 20s, and I can still do it! Lauren’s session inspired me: more speed work to come!
I found a superb hill to run up and down in Mallorca! Na Penyal! Superb training, very hard work, over 200m of elevation, but gorgeous! During my stay in Mallorca I ran up Na Panyal twice, once with fellow Ely Runner, Chris Clowe (while the rest of our families sat by the pool) and once alone. I am not good with heights, and I found the descents really nerve-racking; Chris seemed a little preoccupied with snakes! If only we had a Na Penyal in Ely!
Kings Lynn GEAR 10K 2019. Not as fast as last year, but I was happy with my time, and I actually felt strong and relaxed! It is not an especially tough race, and there is some potential for great times, but not for me and my ‘slower than a year ago’ body! A highlight for me was a quick catch up with Lisa at the start line: she is a legend!
Today felt like the start (or restart) of proper training in that I got back into the mindset I occupied prior to Peddars Way: doing stuff I don’t want to. I wanted to run around Grafham Water with fellow club members today; it is a gorgeous run, but I did not want to do it twice! My thinking in the lead up to ultras is that I must push myself out of my comfort zone: when I hear that voice trying to talk me out of things, I try to dismiss it and push on! Luckily I was accompanied by the superb Ely Runner, Peter, for lap one; he allowed me to set the pace, which was easy for him, and then he pushed ahead when it was time for the second lap. 17 hot and sweaty miles later, the job was done. 17 miles is not so far in the scheme of things, but I had swatted away that voice telling me to stop after lap one: that is the main thing!
Time to up the milage! More soon!
Justin has signed up for what? 