Should you ever find yourself driving in a country where they drive on the opposite side of the road than the one you’re accustomed to, please take extra care. And if you are in that situation, and someone else comes along on the same side of the road as your are, flashing his light, breaking, but not moving out of the way, then please take that as a clue to reconsider your positioning. Unlike that numbskull I came across on Wednesday night who wouldn’t budge, forced me into an emergency break, and finally moved over once I was basically standing still, with a few meters left spare. We were just lucky that it was on a straight stretch of road and I was driving well below the speed limit. One of Niamh’s friends suffered a head-on collision with some tourist two or three years ago on nearly exactly the same place. I prefer to get a raised heart rate from running, not from a near-death experience.
Anyway, let’s return to the subject of running. Thursday called for hill repeats again. I left myself with plenty of time for a change and managed 4 hill repeats up Geokaun. But I got a surprise when I took off for the windsprints at the bottom of the hill. The muddy road that I used for that purpose had a metal wire hanging across it all of a sudden. If that was because the farmer didn’t like me using that road or if it was for some unrelated reason I don’t know. I contemplated my options and decide to do the strides at the top of the hill instead of the bottom. There is a flat(ish) road from the upper car park to the Fogher Cliffs, where, incidentally, I had never been before, despite running past the car park numerous times. It turns out those cliffs are absolutely stunning, but as I found out afterwards, they are the place where famous climber Michael Reardon tragically lost his life 2 weeks ago. I didn’t know that at the time and just carried on with my workout, which, as ever, was reasonably stressful. I also got caught by some heavy rain showers, which I could have done without.
I don’t know if it’s the right thing to do, but I more or less continued with my heavy mileage through the first week of the hill phase. As a result, my legs are feeling more and more tired. I did three laps in Valentia this morning, which came to over 17 miles. That’s a tad less than during the last few weeks of the base building phase, but it’s still more miles than I’ve ever done before. Today’s pace definitely felt faster than 8:20. Either my legs are getting more and more beaten up by the training, or there is a slight error in the mile measurements, and the courses in Valentia a slightly long (or, alternatively, the ones in Caragh Lake are short). I’ll be back in Caragh Lake on Monday, and if I’m still slow then I might cut down on my miles. I don’t want to get too hung up on the pace of my long runs so far out from the marathon, but 8:20 pace just should not feel as hard as it did today, hills or no hills.
I also got rained on twice today, and one of those downpours was so heavy that I wasn’t sure if it was hail stoning. On the other hand, it turned into a beautiful day. The weather forecast for the next few days is similar: changeable. I guess it’s better than what they have in Southern Europe at the moment, where people are literally dying due to the excessive heat. Take care.
26 Jul: 4 hill repeats, 1:40:31, ~ 11.5 miles
27 Jul: 17.1 miles, 2:22:35, 8:20 pace, avg. HR 143
That's terrible about the climber getting swept out to sea. One moment here and then he's gone.
ReplyDeleteI would think that your legs would be a tad bit tired at this point. Just think of how good they are going to feel once you start that taper and cut back on the mileage.
ReplyDeleteOops, I think I was that driver once before a few years back. Sorry...
ReplyDeleteThe mileage you keep putting up is impressive. But what's most impressive is that you don't seem to be losing any motivation. Keep it up.