Refocus and keep my chins up!

Thursday 7th February 2013

To Work -Running ( 7.80miles / 01:11:23  / 00:09:09 per mile)

From Work - Running ( 5.73 miles / 00:53:06  / 00:09:16 per mile) 
With a degree of trepidation I headed out in the early morning frost to run in to work.  I was hopeful that my Achilles would hold up the run as once AGAIN it was playing up.

The run to work is just under 8 miles and I have always thought of it as mostly downhill, however for some reason I seemed to be finding it mostly uphill.  Which I know is impossible but it felt like tough going. Maybe it was the backpack I was carrying or maybe it was just that it was early to be out running.  Either way it was a tough run in before starting the days’ work.

Thankfully the Achilles held up fine and I was feeling strong enough later in the day to make the return trip home again.

Unfortunately the radiator in work had not been working properly so my gloves and hat were still damp from the morning which was a tad unpleasant for a mile or so.

Fortunately the uphill run home felt like the downhill that the morning should have been.  I felt strong and very comfortable for the most part.

I had asked Keara to collect me about 2 miles from home as I couldn’t face the long 2 mile slog up the hill home again, partly out of tiredness but partly because I knew that that sort of uphill strain would not be good at all for a weak Achilles.

Thanks to my new favourite App, Glympse, Keara is able to track me live and see where I am, so she was able to just drive down at the right time to get me and no hanging around on anyone’s part.

I would definitely recommend Glympse for anyone who wants others to know where they are on long runs or bikes.  I intend to use it during the London Marathon so that Keara can track my progress easily.  It’s a simple idea and works really well, although it does tend to eat battery on the iPhone.

http://www.glympse.com/

Now for the bad news.  Friday morning brought a familiar ache in my Heel.  The runs had taken their toll and as I write this on Monday evening following a depressing weekend of no running I have to admit that I am beginning to sense defeat in my efforts to have a decent London Marathon.

 

I am pretty much beginning to resign my self to being able to cope with just a couple of runs per week, of which I need to try to get a long run in at the weekend and hopefully allow enough recovery to get a run of about 1Hr in during the week.

 

I hope that previous experience and a decent endurance base over the last number of years will see me through and if I can just relax and enjoy London and savour the atmosphere I can change my focus from performance to pure enjoyment.

 

I won't even go in to the impact on my training for Triathlon and my fears of the impact this is having on my Half Iron Distance plans.

 

Not in a good place but equally things can always be worse. Chins up!