Utterly Random Thoughts

The rain fell hard against our window at 5:10 Wednesday morning, and the noise woke both me and Maia. Miraculously, both of us managed to fall back asleep, but unfortunately my alarm went off just 15 minutes later, and I got up, cursing the weather. Why did it have to start raining on the day of my long run? I was lucky though, the worst of it had stopped already by the time I was ready to go, and I never got more than a few drop at the time. The run went very well, I did the 15 hilly miles in a bit over 2 hours, and felt good all the way. I was a bit wistful, why oh why did I not feel like that during Connemara? By mile 15 my right quads had already been hurting for 5 miles and the left ones were about to join the misery. On Wednesday, in contrast, I felt like I could run the same loop immediately again.

Due to the race on Sunday I'll have a mini taper, but I thought 8.5 miles on the Devil's Elbow wouldn't do any harm. Alas, the rain shower started just as I was about to leave, and I delayed my departure for 10 minutes, which left me short on time, so I settled for 6 very slow miles. The rain returned shortly before the 4 mile mark, and I felt a bit cold and miserable, but that, too, passed. I want to keep those slow runs in my repertoire, especially if I include some harder runs on a regular basis. The toughest part is to persuade the mind that they are good for you. I'll try and follow Andrew's example. He's a much better runner than I am, and yet his recovery runs are slower than mine. I'm sure there's a lesson to be learned.

I checked the results of Saturday's Highway Fling, which I had considered doing this year, but it didn't fit into my schedule, and I couldn't have run it anyway, because it coincided with my twins' birthday. My running buddy from the Loch Ness marathon, John, had an absolute stormer and finished in 14th place in 9:44:41. It was won by Jez Bragg, the same guy who had won Connemara against tough opposition only 3 weeks earlier. How impressive is that! I compared Jez's time for Connemara and the Fling, and if my times would have shown the same correlation as his, I would have ended the Fling in 10:10. I guess that could set a target if I ever make it across the Irish Channel, I should try and stay under 10 hours.

Because today's run was so slow, I had plenty of time thinking about races I'd like to run in years to come. In distance-increasing order, there's Boston, the Jungfrau marathon, the Ausserfern Challenge, the Highland Fling, Comrades, the WHW, and, in the realms of fantasy, Malin Head to Mizen Head. Throw in an Iron Man as well, while we're at it. I can't help but detect a certain leaning towards the ultra distance here. I guess that's what I want. In case you're wondering, the one in Austria is in there because that's where I spent several (miserable) years, and I guess I'm feeling a bit sentimental at times. The rest should be self explanatory.

After all the trash talk about claiming victory in Bantry if Grellan doesn't turn up, things might actually be the other way round. Everyone in the family is sick with flu-like symptoms, even Maia, and Niamh is especially under the weather. I haven't got any symptoms at the moment, and I completely avoided the last bug that went round a few weeks ago, but if I get sick now then the race will most likely go ahead without me. I'll keep my fingers crossed.

30 Apr

15 miles, 2:02:12, 8:09 pace, HR 149

1 May

6 miles, 54:01, 9:00 pace, HR 135

April milage: 221 miles