Doubly Forgetful

I had completely forgotten about it, but when I had met Norbert last Saturday at the parkrun we had agreed to meet up on Thursday for a lunch run. Since it had completely slipped my mind, the reminder email on Thursday morning came as a bit of a surprise - I had already done a run that morning and didn't feel too fresh.

Still, not someone to go back on his word despite some heavy legs, I agreed to go out on the hilly loop he suggested. In actual fact, the legs felt surprisingly fine, which was nice, and the easy pace seemed to suit us both.

That had been the first double in a long time, and of course completely accidental. With that, and a reasonably long run on Sunday, my weekly mileage for the week went up to 75. I'm not chasing a mile goal, but I have increased my mileage a bit recently, and it really seems to suit me. The legs are feeling better, the pace is quickening a bit, and the VDOT numbers are finally pointing upwards after months in the doldrums. There is still a lot of room for improvement but it is great to see things finally going in the right directions. I don't know what exactly happened in Irding that made me a) have a really lousy race and b) knock me out for 6 months, but I'm confident that it is finally behind me.

I'm not entirely sure what I'm training for. There is the Donadea 50k in February but that won't be a goal race. I was thinking about doing Connemara again, after a few years of absence, but it just doesn't feel the same any more since my friend Ray is no longer associated with the race. I could try and target a late spring marathon, which has a certain draw because I do wonder what time I could still achieve in a marathon with some focused training. And of course there are a couple of longer ultra options as well. Decisions, decisions.

Oh, and on Monday morning I yet again forgot to press the "start" button the watch. Dementia must really be settling in now. 7 miles, lost in time and space, because obviously if it's not on Strava it didn't happen, or so I'm told.

5 Dec

10.22 miles, 1:29:36, 8:46 pace, HR 142

6 Dec

am: 6.33 miles, 56:55, 8:59 pace, HR 134

pm: 6.56 miles, 55:34, 8:19 pace

7 Dec

10.25 miles, 1:28:22, 8:37 pace, HR 140

8 Dec

7.27 miles, 59:56, 8:14 pace, HR 144

9 Dec

17.53 miles, 2:29:49, 8:32 pace, HR 145

10 Dec

7.22 miles, ~1:02:00

11 Dec

10.2 miles, 1:22:37, 8:05 pace, HR 149