Haile the Weekend

When I awoke on Sunday morning, I wondered if Saturday’s zero mileage had indeed resulted in the end of the world: either everything had disappeared, or the fog was just incredibly thick. I got dressed and headed out for a run to check, and it turned out to be the second option. Whew! I would have hated to be single handedly responsible for the destruction of my entire planet. I ran along the Caragh Lake route for a standard 7 mile run, but when the first mile had passed I did a double take at the watch: 7:30. Holy Christ, and I thought I just had been jogging along! I tried to tone down the effort a bit, only to cover the second mile in 7:17. After that I really tried to tone down the effort, because the calves felt a bit heavy, certainly heavier than I would like them to feel at mile 2 of a marathon. I ended doing sub 7:30 for the rest of the run, and it all felt far too easy. If one rest day can do that to my legs, then my major concern next Sunday will be not to get too excited early on and wreck my chances with a few fast starting miles.

When I got home I logged on to the Internet to check the Berlin marathon website, and received news of Haile Gebrselassie’s new world record. All very exciting, but my first thought was to feel sorry for Paul Tergat. HG has taken just about everything from him: Two Olympic gold medals, and now the marathon world record. A lesser man would be screaming in pain and frustration. My morning didn’t end here, I transferred in front of the telly to watch BBC’s life coverage of the Great North Run. It’s so incredibly rare to see a major road running event being broadcast live, I couldn’t miss it, and Shea stayed there watching it all with me. We watched Kara Goucher pull away from Paula Radcliffe, and we witnessed Martin Lel’s incredible sprint finish at the end of the men’s race. It all left me ruing the fact that running receives so little attention in the media. I’d love to watch more, nearly as much as running myself.

I tried to keep myself in check on Sunday, but somehow still ended up working in the garden for 4 hours – the time just flew past. Therefore I can’t really tell what’s responsible for today’s heavy legs, Sunday’s fast miles or the gardening. Mind, the miles still passed reasonably quickly, but the legs definitely had some extra weight attached to them.

Tomorrow is yet another rest day, and Wednesday might end up the last run before the marathon, depending on how I feel. Apparently, some guys in the office are talking about organising a sweepstake on my finishing time. Unfortunately they banned me from taking part myself. Shame.

29 Sep

0 miles, world nearly ended

30 Sep

7 miles, 51:37, 7:22 pace, HR 150

1 Oct

5 miles, 39:40, 7:56 pace, HR 148

Weekly mileage: 41.75 (yes, I’m definitely tapering)

Health Update: The sore throat is gone, to be replaced by a headache and a mild cough, coupled with a general feeling of tiredness.