Not quite NNNN Nineteen

Last Sunday, Justin and I ran a very nice 18.5 mile route from Oxford to Long Hanborough, taking in the Thames, the Oxford Canal and a lap around Blenheim Palace. I felt strong and was pleased to be able to maintain what was (for me) a decent pace while still holding a conversation! We ended up running an overall pace of 8 minute miles and I even managed to push it a little on the last mile (downhill) to 7.05 – good practice for race finishes! Although my legs were a little sore on Monday morning, they felt much better than they have for a while.
It feels as though my ‘back to basics’ training is beginning to pay dividends and I am starting to hope that I might just be able to have a go at the full race distance for the Brecons Ultra. Of course it really all depends on how the long reccie run next weekend goes. I’m hoping it will give me an indication of whether I am going to be able to contribute positively to the race strategy of the team which will make my decision much easier.
I am going to have an easy week this week with just one tempo run so that I can be as fresh as possible for the weekend. Here’s keeping everything crossed that everything goes well!

I have my MOJO back

I think I may have got my MOJO back!!
Last weekend I was up at my mum’s in Maltby, South Yorkshire while the Round Rotherham was on.http://www.hmarston.co.uk/rhac/trail/rrr.htm A member of my family was going to be taking part in the relay class with other members of her running club and I had arranged to run with her on her leg and then continue back to Maltby (a distance of 16 miles in total). I also wanted to pop over at the start of the race to say hello and good luck to a couple of people. I knew from the start list that Colm (who I partnered on the OMM last year) had entered, and I thought it would be a good opportunity to catch up with him before he was completely knackered!
Although I knew that it would be extremely foolish to attempt to run the entire distance at this stage of my ‘come back’, I was VERY tempted once I saw everyone else prepping and getting keyed up for the start. However, I had a good chat with Colm and a few others and then tore myself away to go back to my mum’s for porridge before meeting Caroline at the handover point for the start of her leg. Unfortunately, having waited for some time at the checkpoint, we heard that the first runner in Caroline’s team had got lost and that it would be quite some time before she would be needed. Colm was due to be along shortly after we heard this and with Caroline’s agreement I decided to ask him whether he minded me tagging along with him to Maltby. He didn’t mind me keeping him company and we set off.
It felt incredibly good to be running in a competitive environment again (even if I wasn’t technically in the race) and everything was working as it should have, so rather than stopping at Maltby I carried on running, ending up at the finish at Dearne Valley College - a total distance of some 26.8 miles. We averaged 10:27 minute miles for the part of the race I covered. A steady pace for me (which is maybe why I was able to cover the distance)and a great pace for Colm given that he had already done 25 miles cross country! He finished in 08:16:47 and was in 22nd place.
All-in-all I have to say it was a FANTASTIC weekend. I caught up with some old friends, the weather was great for running and I had the best run I’ve had in a VERY long time! I even managed to take the dog out for a run the next day. To say I came back home on something of a high is an understatement.
I would certainly recommend the Round Rotherham as an enjoyable, if challenging, event to anyone looking for a 50 mile ultra.

Moving Forward

The running has been going well; I have made my times this week so I am pleased with that.
I did a 12 mile run on Sunday and even though the heat was very uncomfortable I managed to achieve a pace that would put me at week six of my training. I do not wish to move forward to that week at the moment as the Tempo run times are beyond me at the moment.