Sunday 30 May 2010: Long run Sunday!

Weekly Mileage: 88.5  miles (plus 30+miles on the bike)

Mileage: 16 miles

I fully intended to go to Craiglockart today and meet up with the club for the usual Sunday morning run, however, I woke later than I had planned and by the time I managed to get up I knew I would never make it in time for the run, so instead I lay in bed with a coffee and watched Doctor Who from last night.

I was also really tired, stiff and sore. This week's hard training was really running through my body this morning, but I was determined to get out and go for a run as soon as Doctor Who was finished. I texted Colin McGill, as he lives close by, to see if he would be interested in going for a run. I was hoping that company would ensure that I did my 16 miles at a reasonable pace. Unfortunately by the time the credits were rolling on another brilliant episode of Doctor Who he had not replied.

I wearily pulled on my kit and decided to run around the Warriston cycle network and then head toward Cramond. As with my last few runs I decided to run without looking at my watch for at least three miles to let my body set the pace. By the time I checked, I was again just under 7 minutes per mile pace and it felt comfortable so didn't push any harder. By the time I got to Cramond and turned round after 7 miles I was feeling good and a lot of the stiffness in my muscles had gone. It was at this point I turned round and nearly bumped in Colin McGill! Colin, who had not seen my text, was out for his Sunday run and by complete chance we had bumped into each other, so we ran bang along the sea front and back towards Newhaven.

It was good to have company for the journey and although we were running at around 6.50 pace we still had enough breath to chat. This was good, as it meant that I couldn't get carried away and start pushing too hard. We chatted for a bit about marathon training, club running and upcoming races and plans. As we ran back through the Warriston cycle network we bumped into Gail and her parents who were out walking Jack. When Jack saw me he got very excited, and ran along beside me. He kept up as well, so Colin and I had some company, it was nice too and I was really pleased the dog did do well, as it bodes well for later in the year when I plan for him to come running with me as part of my MDS training. After 0.75 miles Jack started to fade a little, so we turned round and led the dog back towards Gail who caught a hold of him as we ran on. 

After a few miles I was finished and I left Colin to head back up the road home. 

I finished my 16miles in 1hour 50minutes with nearly all of my miles sub 7 minutes, so I was pretty pleased with that. 

I then spent the afternoon shopping for my holiday and am just about to enjoy a massive vegetarian lasagna so a good Sunday! More about my holidays tomorrow I think. I am off to Vietnam and need to get some holiday jabs! Ouch!!