The magic bullet?

After a couple of really full run weeks I was pretty pooped by the time I got to this weekend. At some time in the weekend I was meant to fit in my last long run before the Luton Marathon, but as the weekend drew nearer I was getting more and more tired, grumpy and rough feeling; I just didn't want to do it. In the meantime Adam and I had arranged a paddle and I also arranged for us to meet Jamie and Jo at Elmbridge. We paddled the Mystere down there and then bimbled around the island. Jamie and Jo looked really good and pulled away from us easily. If they decide to do the DW next year then I'm sure they'll do really well. Adam and I did an hour but Adam was finding his position uncomfortable and we think that it's more of a core strength issue. Between now and Christmas it's just going to be a case of getting out on the water little and often and to hit the swiss ball. We are a lot further ahead when we compare ourselves to last year but we've got a long way to go also. Being mowed down by the Elmbridge club on our way back showed us how much more work we have to do on our technique.

After another busy weekend it got to Sunday night and I couldn't put it off any longer, so headed out for this run. It was a slow start running at 8.10 minute miles for the first 8 miles or so before picking it up to around 7.30 minute miles for the rest of the 18 miles. Two things stand out from this. One, proper hydration with nuun beforehand really helped.Even though I didn't take on any gels I did not bonk at all at the end of the run and I feel that ensuring I was properly hydrated with electrolytes ensured that I finished the run strongly. Two, my hamstrings are in a terrible state; they really began to protest and as I begin the taper over the next three weeks I am going to really focus on stretching and strengthening them as much as I can.

In terms of what pace / time to aim for I feel that 7.45 miles should be suitable, which would give a finish time of around 3.23. If I'm honest, this is slower than I would want but I need to keep my ego in check, finish the run strongly and use the experience to improve next time. Slowly slowly catchy monkey.