Thursday, May 08, 2008

8 miles good... 2 miles bad...

An early morning start and the first mid-week run for a few weeks. I was a little concerned about my knee so I decided to carry my knee saving insoles in my pocket; if I felt a twinge in the knee department I'd stop and slip them in. This happened around mile 4 and by mile 5 I knew I had to stop; luckily we passed a bench and I whipped them in. The relief was instant but I still had a nagging discomfort from the first 5 miles. Inevitably my arches suffered but thankfully my knee held out. The last 2 miles were tough, a real struggle but as I've said before it's amazing what you can find inside if you dig deep. I have no doubt that if I was running on my own I would have stopped.

We ran the course in an impressive 1.30, and according to the fetch calculator we're on track for a 4.10 marathon... however, in the real world (taking into account the fact that my legs will undergo the first of many transformations at mile 20 (they'll start by becoming blocks of stone, then blocks of cheese and finally a pair of stroppy teenagers that insist on lunging in different directions) before realising that I'm not stopping and if they don't get busy running we'll be here all day) that's more like 4.30 which is a whole hour off last years time.

Next run is the monster, massive, ugly but essential 20 miler! Is the pain really worth it?

3 comments:

monica said...

good! you managed 10 miles today, that must be a relief for you! I can tell you, it's painful but totally worth it, especially once you get out of the shower.

4:30!! BRING IT ON!!!

I am doing 18 miles on sunday...oh my!

any chance you can make the post-mara fetchie drink at newry??

Andrew said...

Thanks Monica!

Don't think I can make Newry, have to be in Dublin othat Monday. It's a shame, it's going to be fun!!

Enjoy the 18 miler!!

Anonymous said...

Hi Andrew,

I hope you are not pushing your body too far.
It seems to tell you to be careful !!
I am running a 10 km on the 18/05/2008 and the 20 km on the 25.
See you in June

Alain