Sunday 25th February

13.65 miles
7.51 per mile
1hr 47 mins

Summary of week 7: 33 miles (+48 km on the x-Bike)

Well that's seven week's gone and I've certainly covered more miles since the New Year than I thought I could physically manage! Another 33 miles this week and a surprisingly quick long run today, almost at my half marathon good race pace. If I can stay injury free, which currently seems to be the case (even the blistering has now been banished) I should be able to achieve decent times. With a couple of 20 mile races and a half marathon coming up in March, this will be put to the test shortly. Whole marathon thing dosen't seem so daunting now, let's hope these words don't come back to haunt me!



Run

An excellent run. Up early to be out at 7am but Sian decided that she needed the extra sleep (Sleep 1, Church 0) so entertained the boys and headed out nearer ten. Quick Harborne circuit and then out through Bearwood to Handsworth and back via town via the canal. So much for the long slow weekend run though! Legs were feeling pretty fresh so I pushed on, worked hard (certainly a lot harder than some of the long runs) and kept a sub 8 min mile pace. I think the volume of training is paying off as it didn't feel too bad past the 10 mile marker. Heavy rain incentivised a quick return as well and I passed the half marathon mark at 1hr 42 mins, only a few minutes slower than my quickest race pace. With the Gloucester 20 miler next week, the 10 mile mark was passed in 1.18 - it will be interesting to see if this translates into a fast time in a race environment.