Training Log Archive: slowphil

First leg M40 with the ladies again. Not a good run this time, unfortunately. Hardly surprising since I'm not 21 any more, so celebrating City's win in a Manchester nightclub until after 3am wasn't the best preparation (especially when having to get up before 7am in time to make it back to run first leg!). Calf was sore before the start (as was the head!), but decided to set off at a reasonable pace and keep with the pack as long as possible. Went OK for a while, despite thinking I'd seen a ghost coming towards me as I went to punch #1 (it was Martin who was covered head to toe in light brown mud) but started plodding a bit up the hill from the veg boundary control in the field below the arena, and then found the climb up to the first field on the way to 6 very hard indeed. Helen got past me there, and trying to up the pace after that lost me a minute at #6, then 3 at #7, where I had to re-trace my steps back to #6 and a further minute at #8. One more wobble of 2 mins at #12, around the map exchange I think, but had calmed down then and was concentrating on not making further errors, albeit now at a slower speed. Then came through the spectator area, hearing (on the commentary and from team mates) that Helen and Jon were just finishing, tried to run quicker again, and promptly lost 3 minutes at #19 (where I must have run within touching distance of the small but deep pit first, according to GPS - had my eyes closed, perhaps?), then 2 at 20 and 2 at 21. So 14 mins of mistakes out of 48.

Calf was sore, and right achilles became very painful when running hard up the final hill (so much for that being nearly healed!).

Several times when going wrong I found myself in waist high nettles and twice dense thorn bushes, so Sarah and Zoe's rare visit to see me run ended up with a patch up job on a few bloody scratches (just as it did last time they came to see me at Easter, come to think of it).

Shame to have lost the plot so spectacularly - was enjoying the first few as usual (and I from the splits think I was lying 4th on the gaffle until the tiredness and errors crept in, which would indeed have been on for about 34 mins or so), but now time to take a break, rest, and get recovered.