Midweek

After Tuesday’s tempo run, I expected Wednesday’s long run to be a tough one, on stiff and tired legs. I did indeed feel some of that in the first three miles, but once I got into the groove things started to improve rapidly and I managed to go a good bit faster than expected. Planning a slower run rather than the 20-miles-with-7.5-at-MP one had the advantage that I could run over the hilly Caragh Lake loop without having to worry about preserving the legs for the faster bits later on. Nevertheless, the legs felt pretty good once I had left the hills behind me at mile 14, and I managed to turn up the pace another notch. I didn’t take split times initially, but I did take them for the last 3 miles, which went by in 22:22, which is 7:27 pace, something I was very pleased about. I hadn’t expected to be able to finish the run at such a strong pace.

Since Tuesday and Wednesday had been pretty tough, I took it much easier today. But the legs felt really good, and despite taking it easy all the way I got fairly close to 8:00 pace, something that used to be much tougher. It confirms something that I have noticed before, namely that my legs can handle long runs much better than fast efforts. Today I felt like I could easily have run further or faster, and the easy effort might have been a bit overcautious. Not that I’m second-guessing my schedule, it’s always better to err on the side of caution. But I’m very pleased with the way my fitness is developing. I’ve gotten a few comments stating that they expect me to break my PR in Loch Ness. I don’t want to sound arrogant, but merely breaking my PR would leave me rather disappointed. My goal is still 3:10, which will be tough, but I think it is within reach. If I miss that I’ll definitely want to break 3:15 and qualify for Boston, anything less and I’ll be upset, PR or not.

I nearly forgot, I had a rare encounter with a fox during my long run yesterday. It was in the hills east of the lake, at least 2 miles away from the nearest house, and that fox crossed the road just in front of me. He sat down about 5 meters off the road as I passed and we eyed each other suspiciously, each of us surprised by the presence of the other. I used to see foxes regularly when we were living in London, but around here they are much rarer (or maybe they’re shy). I think it’s only the second time in four years that I have spotted a fox in Kerry.

There are hill repeats on the schedule for tomorrow, but I will have to decide if I want to do the steep-hill running and bounding drills, or run up in a more conventional way. I got so fed up with those drills a couple of weeks ago that I don’t know if I want to perform them again. I’ll see.

22 Aug: 20 miles, 2:38:36, 7:55 pace, avg. HR 147; with 3 miles in 22:22 (7:27 pace)
23 Aug: 10 miles, 1:21:08, 8:06 pace, avg. HR 142