I got 10,799 seconds to go..

ooter

So the quest for a sub 3 hour marathon continues, DCM 15 is on the horizon and it’s time to have another crack. Thought I’d go close at DCM last year but the wheels fell off around half way, managed to salvage a GFA time for London on the day (3:14) so at least something good came out of it. Since then I’ve just kept myself ticking over, 30 miles a week with no consecutive day runs, so I was basically running 7 times every 2 weeks with a medium long run of 10-16 miles every weekend, rightly or wrongly it was my way of getting a good aerobic base in over the last 6 months. It was pretty much all done at 7:30-8 min/mile pace, I did no speed work whatsoever. :eek:
About 5 weeks ago I decided to have a crack at the Belfast marathon just to see exactly where I was at, did an 18 miler that turned in to a 14 miler 4 weeks out and struggled through a 20 miler 3 weeks out so was fairly confident I’d arrive at the start line in some reasonable shape. Honestly thought I’d go under 3:45 but just after halfway I realised that wasn’t happening, dropped the pace a bit and struggled home in 3:56, there really was nothing in the legs from a good bit out. Honestly don’t know where I’m going to find 57 minutes from over the next few months but sure I’ll give it a go.
This will be my 4th marathon, I’m 42, have never been a member of a club and do all my training alone, I’ve decided to tackle the P+D 55-70 mile plan, hopefully I can hack the higher weekly mileage and not pick up any niggles/injuries along the way.
This logging lark seems to be the way to go so I’ll post on here as often as possible and update on how well or otherwise I’m doing, if anyone would like to add any pearls of wisdom in I’d really appreciate it.
My marathon PB is 3:14:05 at DCM 14, I ran 3:25:55 in my debut marathon the previous year, DCM 13.
HM PB is 1:26:39 at Dublin HM 14, hopefully I can put a hole in this,
10 Mile PB is 1:03:30 at Frank Duffy 10 mile 13,
10 K PB is 37:50 in a tune up run Oct 14,
5 Mile PB is 30 mins at RTE BHAA race 13+14,
5 K PB is 18:40 at prison service BHAA race 13.

ooter

Nothing much to report last week, just easing myself back in to it, 17 miles in total. Decided to throw a bit of speed work in to my 8 mile weekend run, it has been so long since I did any speed work that I was worried if I’d be able to even run 1 mile at marathon pace. Nice little confidence booster to hit marathon pace and hit threshold pace for a while too.

25 miles planned for this week, looking forward to dropping the hammer again for a few of those miles.

Tuesday: 2 miles, 15:40 (7:20 avg)

Wednesday: 4 miles, 31:11 (7:48 avg)

Friday: 3 miles, 22:56 (7:36 avg)

Saturday: 8 miles w 1.7 miles at 6:23 pace and 1.7 miles at 6:49 pace.

Maximum heart rate at 6:23 pace was 162 and at 6:49 pace was 163 which I found strange.

NetwerkErrer

ooter wrote: »

Maximum heart rate at 6:23 pace was 162 and at 6:49 pace was 163 which I found strange.

That's because you ran at 6:23 pace first ooter. Your heart was already stressed and hadn't fully recovered when you started the 6:49 part.

A better way of explaining it would be looking at someone's easy run splits who trains by HR. Say the aim of the run is 135bpm, the first few miles will be at 6min/m pace because the muscles are fresher and don't need as much oxygen but by the end of the run, 135bpm would be 6:30 as there is more fatigue so they have to slow down to maintain that heart rate

Best of luck with the log btw.

ooter

Thanks NE, makes sense alright.
After the 6:23 run I did 1.7 miles at 8 min/mile pace and my HR stayed above 145 the whole time,nearly all of my training in recent months has been around that pace and my HR would be comfortably below 145.
I only recently started using a HRM, first time to ever use it during speed work though..

ooter

unfortunately I've been out of action for almost a month now with injury, perfect timing wha?
been seeing a physio for the last 2 weeks and am beginning to see the light at the end of the tunnel.
small steps, i've to do 30 mins light running tomorrow and take it from there, that'll be the first time I've laced up the shoes in 4 weeks so hopefully all goes well and I can ramp it up at the beginning of next week.
it has been a frustrating few weeks, I've been doing lots of walking just to keep up the time on feet but it's not the same, can't wait to get back to some proper training.

ooter

was due to start my 18 week marathon training programme last Tuesday bus was still feeling a bit stiff so decided against it, waited till last Friday to head out and see how I felt from there. Having done no running of note whatsoever for the previous 5 weeks it was looking highly unlikely that I’d be able to tackle the P+D 55-70 mile programme but I needed to see exactly where I was at so I decided to try and nail the speed session from week 1 of the programme, 9 miles w 4 @ 15 K to HM race pace. From pretty early on it was clear that I was nowhere near, couldn’t even nail 7:30 avg pace for the 4 miles which was very disappointing. Sunday morning I had a crack at the 15 mile medium long run prescribed in the programme, again it became evident from early on that it wasn’t going to happen, started to feel a tightness in my right thigh about 5 miles in so I thought it best to cut the run short and avoid doing any lasting damage, all in all a pretty disappointing first week (2 runs) back training.

The rest up to yesterday evening seemed to help because I felt a lot better on that run but I knew finishing it that there was no way I could take on another 12 mile medium long run today.

Going to fall back on to the 55 mile programme, I’m nowhere near the level I need to be at to have a proper crack at the 55-70 mile programme. Sub 3 hour looks way off for now, going to concentrate on bagging a PB for DCM 15.



Friday June 26th

8.2 miles w 4 miles @ 7:36 avg page

Duration 01:10:54

Avg heart rate 142

Max heart rate 165

Avg pace 8:37 min/mile



Sunday June 28th

7.5 miles

Duration 01:07:29

Avg heart rate 134

Max heart rate 147

Avg pace 8:57 min/mile



Tuesday June 30th

8 miles w 10 x 100 m strides

Duration 01:07:24

Avg heart rate 147

Max heart rate 160

Avg pace 8:27 min/mile

ooter

Decided to do the 10 miler at the back end (25% of MP) of the prescribed pace in the programme, still only easing my way back in and didn’t want to overdo it, also had my right thigh in the back of my mind but thankfully that soreness I was experiencing last Sunday hasn’t returned.

I felt comfortable enough but the warm conditions were really energy sapping and weren’t doing me any favours, by the end I was glad I hadn’t gone out any quicker because I would’ve really struggled.

5 mile recovery tomorrow but already the 13 miler w 8 miles @ MP on Sunday is on my mind, can’t see me being anywhere near 6:50/mile pace, if I can even get within 30 seconds of that I’ll be happy because last Friday I couldn’t even nail 7:30/mile pace. :eek:

Anyway, I’ll suck it and see..



Thursday July 2nd

10 miles general aerobic

Duration 01:24:23

Avg heart rate 136

Max heart rate 143

Avg pace 8:27 min/mile

ooter

Set out Sunday morning with the intention of doing 5 miles around 8:50 pace and then ramp it up to 7:20 pace for the remaining 8 miles, decided to do 2 loops of the great Ireland run course in the phoenix park. Completed the easy 5 miles in just over 43 mins and then picked the pace up, managed to keep on course for the first 4 miles, was bang on 7:20 pace but the hill from chapelizod gate up to the furry glen killed me, an 8 min mile 5 put paid to any hope of nailing my goal time, managed to bag another 7:20 for mile 6 but the wheels fell off big time then and I struggled home for the last 2 miles.

Fairly disappointed but at least I managed the first 4 miles at 7:20 pace which was something, couldn’t help thinking to myself though that at the same time last year I was running 01:28 for 13.1 miles at clontarf. :eek:

Handy 10 miler last night, kept Thursday’s session in mind, going to have a good crack at the 4 miles at 15 K to HM race pace, I won’t be anywhere near either of those paces but hopefully I can go close.



Saturday July 4th

5 Miles recovery



Sunday July 5th

13.1 miles w 8.1 miles @ 7:42 avg pace

Duration 01:45:43

Avg heart rate 139

Max heart rate 159

Avg pace 8:12 min/mile



Tuesday July 7th

General aerobic 10 miles

Duration 01:29:18

Avg heart rate 127

Max heart rate 137

Avg pace 8:57 min/mile

ooter

I was really hoping to go close to 7 min mile pace for last night’s session, 2 miles down chesterfield avenue in the Phoenix park and 2 miles back up, clocked 14:16 for the first 2 miles which I was happy enough with but the next 2 were a different story and felt much tougher, tried my best to salvage at least 7:20 avg pace for the 4 miles but it just wasn’t there, came in in 29:36 for 4 miles.

Ah well, we go again..



Wednesday July 8th

4 Miles recovery



Thursday July 9th

Lactate threshold 8 miles w 4 miles at 7:24 avg pace

Duration 01:04:55

Avg heart rate 137

Max heart rate 155

Avg pace 8:07 min/mile

tang1

Just a month ago you were on a physios plinth getting treatment, try remember that on your sessions and not be to hard on yourself when you dont hit the times you had hoped. Maybe ease off the sessions a bit & build yourself back up rather than being a slave to times and flogging yourself unnecessarily. Just my two cents worth, ignore if you like.

ooter

Yeah cheers tang, you're right, I'm grateful just to be able and get out and run again to be honest, the speed will return eventually..

Bulmers74

Would you consider doing a 10k and work your paces off that time rather than working off expected paces?

ooter

Yeah thinking of doing the 10k out in swords next week, it'd be a good guague of where I'm at, was going to do the clontarf 10k last weekend but it was way too soon.

ooter

Friday July 10th

4 miles recovery

Saturday July 11th

Medium long run 14 m w 7 m @ 8:27 avg pace and 7 m @ 7:54 avg pace

Duration 01:54:40

Avg heart rate 138

Max heart rate 148

Avg pace 8:10 min/mile

I was delighted with this session, really felt it in the legs near the end though.
was due to do it today but wanted to watch the McGregor fight this morning so knew it would be a big ask so I headed out yesterday evening.
first time being in the Phoenix park late on a Saturday evening, surprisingly empty and very peaceful, saw more bunnies than I did people.
did another 2 loops of the GIR course in the run, apart from the furry glen, I wasn't going though there at that hour, ye wouldn't know what you'd see/find.:eek:

ooter

Felt the slightest of twinges in my back last Tuesday morning and feared the worst, so disappointing as I was just starting to feel as if I was getting back to myself again, it wasn’t so bad as to stop me from heading out but the fear was it getting any worse. Really didn’t feel great on this run right from the start, just one of those days, got through the strides ok but felt really drained afterwards. Woke up pretty stiff on the Wednesday so decided against doing any running, even at recovery pace. Did some walking but even at that I was conscious of the stiffness in my back. Thursday was a pretty horrendous evening and to be honest I was looking for any excuse at all to not get out for my run (which hardly ever happens) so the rain made up my mind for me.

Obviously by doing that I knew I was facing 3 runs in 3 days which isn’t ideal but one of them was a 4 mile recovery run so I reckoned I’d be ok. Felt good on the Friday but didn’t want to go out too hard cos I had Sunday’s session in mind, went through the motions on Saturday on the recovery run. Felt good starting out on my 15 miler on the Sunday but I faded fast, just didn’t have any energy, met a mate of mine in the park after about 5 miles and just trotted through the rest of the miles with him and had a good chat. Really felt it in the legs sunday night.

Had a little swim yesterday, back seems to be holding up, I’ll be ready to go again today.

Tuesday July 14th: 7.65 miles w 10 x 100m strides,
Duration 72:02, 9:23 avg, Max hr 142 (?), avg hr 123.

Friday July 17th: 10 miles, Duration 86:13, 8:34 avg, Max hr 140, avg hr 128.

Saturday July 18th: 4 miles recovery.

Sunday July 19th: 14.67 miles long run, duration 133:42, 9:06 avg, Max hr 148, avg hr 133.

Greenmachine

Nice going on your PB's especially the 10k. Pace is almost identical to 5k pace, just an extra 3 second per km over 5k pace.

ooter

Greenmachine wrote: »

Nice going on your PB's especially the 10k. Pace is almost identical to 5k pace, just an extra 3 second per km over 5k pace.

Cheers, in fairness I'm nowhere near those times at the moment, though I did manage 5 miles at 6:58 avg pace last night which I was delighted with.

Greenmachine

ooter wrote: »

Cheers, in fairness I'm nowhere near those times at the moment, though I did manage 5 miles at 6:58 avg pace last night which I was delighted with.

Wouldn't worry too much about that after the layup. Just get back into your groove.

ooter

Tuesday July 21st: 9 miles w 5 @ 6:58 avg pace, Max hr 160, avg hr 143, duration 71:00, avg 7:48.

Starting to see a bit of progression now, this session called for 5 miles @ 15 k to HM race pace, now I'm not trying to fool myself in to thinking that I could've kept 6:58 pace for anywhere near 13.1 miles or even 15 k for that matter but it's still a nice confidence boost.
Getting there slowly.

ooter

Wednesday July 22nd: 5 miles recovery.

Thursday July 23rd: 10 miles general aerobic, duration 82:30, avg 8:15, avg hr 138, Max hr 148.

Decided to up the pace a bit for this 10 miler, seeing as it was between 2 recovery runs and a rest day, felt really comfortable the whole way through and could've upped the pace even more but I was really happy with that time, especially having ran 3 days on the trot again in less than a week.
Going to have a good craic at this 16 miler with 10 @ "MP" on Sunday.

ooter

Saturday July 25th: 5 miles recovery.
Heard someone on the radio a few weeks ago (think it was ray Darcy) saying he runs barefoot on grass for 30 mins once a week so decided to give it a crack, might sound mental but I felt great after it, maybe there is something to it..
Sunday July 26th: 16 miles w 10 miles @ 7:30 avg pace, duration 129 mins, avg 8:07, avg HR 141, Max HR 162.
Absolutely thrilled with this session, really starting to feel improvements now, was banging the 7:30 miles out like a metronome, towards the end of most of them I had to throw a strides type effort in to nail the 7:30, really encouraging that I had that in the locker.
Horrendous morning, wind was terrible but I wasn't going to use that as an excuse, did the session totally on empty so really really happy with it.
Looking back on my logs I didn't complete this session last year, did the 10 miles @ 7:26 pace but only lasted 14 miles and had to walk the last mile or so home, remember it well, i was fooked, duration was 115 mins. :eek:

ooter

Tuesday July 28th: 8 miles w 10 x 100m strides, duration 109:30, avg 8:42/mile, avg HR 131, Max HR 149.
For the 2nd time in 2 weeks doing this session my HRM seemed to lose signal but still recorded avg and Max hr at the end of the run, very strange. Given the effort I'd be very surprised if my Max HR was 149, I'd have my doubts on the accuracy of that.
Nothing much to report apart from that, pace felt really comfortable which was surprising after the hard effort on Sunday and i felt strong after the effort of the strides, the last time my energy was shot and I trotted back home.

ooter

Wednesday 29 July: 5 miles recovery.



Thursday 30 July: 8 miles general aerobic, duration 65:54, avg 8:13/mile, max HR 134, avg HR 129.



Saturday 1 August: 4 miles recovery.



Sunday 2 August: 12 miles w 6 @ 8:40/mile avg pace and 6 @ 7:53/mile avg pace, duration 99:11, max HR 149, avg HR 133.

Pretty run of the mill session, the RnR half marathon was going on at the same time and I passed the finish line with 01:25:49 on the clock, would’ve been happy with that if it had been for real. J



Tuesday 4 August: 10 miles w 5 @ 7:02/mile avg pace.

This was a tough one, 48 hours previous I was out taking full advantage of having no work the following morning and having a few beverages to celebrate the Dubs’ historic win over Fermanagh so I knew it was going to be a struggle so to be honest I was delighted that I got anywhere near 7 min mileage. It was windy and hilly and horrible. :eek:



Wednesday 5 August: 4 miles recovery.

ooter

Thursday August 6th: 9.86 miles, duration 81:09, avg pace 8:13 min/mile, plus 8 x 100 m strides.



Saturday August 8th: 18 mile long run w 9 @ 8:40 pace and 9 @ 7:55 pace, duration 149:07.

I don’t normally take any fluids on board during a run, it’s just a pain carrying bottles around with me, but I decided to experiment with some diluted apple juice for this run to see how I got on, I juiced 1 apple and diluted it with water in to 2 x 300 ml bottles. I don’t like leaving bottles around but there was no way I was carrying them with me so I hid them as best I could behind a gate in the park. Did 5 loops and took half a bottle of fluid on board after each of the first 4 loops, didn’t experience any stomach issues which was great. Did the first 9 miles @ 20% of MP and for most/all of the miles I had to walk/stop towards the end of them, didn’t want to go too quick in case I couldn’t keep up 10% of MP for the last 9 miles. To be honest I was struggling towards the end but thankfully the last 2 miles were down furze road and any wind that was out there was at my back. Going to continue with the apple juice for the 20 miler on Sunday.



Tuesday August 11th: 7 miles w 6 x 100m strides, duration 63:00, avg pace 9:00 min/mile.



Wednesday August 12th: 12 miles w 6 @ 8:40 pace and 6 @ 7:55 pace.

Decided to flip this around because of the heat and because I have 2 big runs coming up over the next few days so want to keep the legs as fresh as possible, instead of doing the first 6 miles at 20% of MP I did them at 10% and did the last 6 at 20%. Felt really comfortable the whole way through and found 7:55 pace surprisingly easy, really wanted to kick on but decided against it, I’ll save that for the LT session on Friday. It’ll be interesting to see how I get on on with the 20 miler on Sunday after that LT session, the first 10 miles at 20% of MP should be no bother but I reckon I’ll struggle with the last 10 @ 10% pace, if I do manage to nail it I’ll know I’m in good shape.

ooter

Friday August 14th: 10 miles w 6 @ 6:49 avg pace, duration 76:45

Tough session but delighted with the outcome, the fastest I’ve run over a long-ish distance for a good while.



Saturday August 15th: 5 miles recovery.



Sunday August 16th: 16 miles long run, duration 144:00

Knew from pretty early on I was going to struggle on this run, struggled to hit 20% of marathon pace from mile 1 so just slowed it right down cos I knew there was no way I was going to complete 20 miles at any type of fast pace, I really struggle with consecutive days running and it was pretty clear the tough session from Friday was still in my legs. On the 4th lap of a planned 5 I was really struggling and decided to cut the run short at 16 miles, I was getting slower and slower and really wasn’t enjoying it, to be honest I was happy enough that I had even got to 16, there was just nothing in the legs.



Tuesday August 18th: 6 miles recovery



Wednesday August 19th: 14 miles w 7 @ 8:40 avg pace and 7 @ 7:55 avg pace

Handy enough run, legs felt much fresher, was planning on doing 7 slow miles and then 7 faster miles but I felt so good from the start that I kicked on and got the quicker 7 miles in first, faded a lot in the second half of the run so the tiredness was still there a bit but got through it ok.



Thursday August 20th: 5.4 miles recovery

Headed up to the polo grounds a bit too late so cut the laps short by 1, it was getting very dark very fast so got the xxxx out of there.



Saturday August 21st: 5.8 miles recovery w 6 x 100m strides



Sunday August 22nd: 16 miles w 12 @ 7:10 avg pace, duration 120:40

Got up early Sunday morning for this session, probably the 2nd toughest session on the plan, but it was p1ssing down so decided to hold off for a while, eventually got out around 2 o clock and was determined to nail this session. Compared to the 16 miler I did 8 days previous they were like chalk and cheese, felt really good on the first 4 slow miles, found myself having to walk/stop at the end of each mile, wanted to keep as much energy for what was to come, dropped the hammer after mile 4 and hoped for the best

It was wet, it was windy, it was hilly, but I nailed it, really had to dig in for the last 3 miles but I was determined to keep up marathon pace till the end. Really felt it in the legs Sunday evening but was surprisingly fresh yesterday so that must be a good sign.

ooter

Tuesday August 25th: 8 miles general aerobic, duration 72:00, 9 min mile avg pace.



Wednesday August 26th: 8 miles w 5 x 800m intervals. Interval times varied as some were with the wind and some against, the ones in to the wind were around 3:10 for 800m and the ones with the wind were comfortably 3:00 which I was happy with but I’d be hoping for quicker in future interval sessions.



Thursday August 27th: 5 miles recovery.



Saturday August 29th: 8 miles w 8 x 100m strides, duration 66:40, 8:20/mile avg pace. Felt really good on this run, blasted out the strides and was expecting good things for the following day’s long run.



Sunday August 30th: 14 miles w 7 @ 8:40 pace and 7 @ 7:55 pace. Felt strangely flat on this run right from the start, felt tired towards the end which was surprising but there ye go, one of those days.



Tuesday September 1st: 7 miles recovery w 6 x 100m strides.



Wednesday September 2nd: 11 miles w 7 @ 7:00/mile avg pace, duration 85:00. I decided to head up to the path around the pitches at the 15 acres in the phoenix park for this run, hadn’t done laps of it for a long time and now I know why, the wind is/was horrendous. They really are horrible conditions to run in but I’ve no doubt it stands to you. Would’ve liked to have gone a good bit quicker if I’m being honest but the way I felt after this session I know I worked hard so maybe the time is deceptive. The 12 miles @ 7:10 pace 10 days previous didn’t feel that tough. :eek:

ooter

Friday September 4th: 7 miles w 1 mile @ 8:40 pace and 6 miles @ 7:55 pace, duration 56:10.

This was supposed to be 12 miles but I knew I’d struggle to nail the 20 miler in the plan 2 days later so I cut it short, I knew I’d be able to do the extra 5 miles at 8:40 pace but thought it best to keep the legs as fresh as possible.



Saturday September 5th: 5 miles recovery.

Again I had the following day’s 20 miler in mind, plus the fact I’d be standing on Hill 16 for the guts of 2 hours so instead of doing the recovery I walked down to croke park and back which took the guts of an hour.



Sunday September 6th: 20 miles w 10 miles @ 8:40 pace and 10 miles @ 7:55 pace.

Decided to head back up to the 15 acres again for this run, wanted to keep it as flat as possible, the main objective was just to get the 20 miles done and dusted, It may have been flat but it was windy so still a good test.

First 10 miles were straightforward enough but it obviously got a bit tougher for the next 10, really struggled from 15 miles on and was getting really fed up with doing laps around the track, decided to head back home with the intention of doing only 18 (ish) miles. Reached the point where I would turn right down furze road for home and decided to dig in, instead I turned left up furze road and continued on till I reached the point where I was 2 miles from home and then turned back the way I came with 2 miles to go, downhill and with the wind at my back. I knew at that stage I was going to nail the 20 miles, finished up tired but really happy.

One thing I did notice on this run was a little niggle in my right ankle, at least it felt like my ankle. Thought I might of just stretched or strained a ligament and although it wasn’t too painful it was a worry.



Tuesday September 8th: 8 miles w 5 x 600 m intervals @ 2:15 pace.

The intervals with the wind were handy enough, the ones against the wind were TOUGH!



Wednesday September 9th: 12 miles w 6 miles @ 8:40 pace and 6 miles @ 7:55 pace.

Thought I’d struggle with this run after the intervals the night before but it was fairly handy, the pain in my ankle returned but this time it felt more like a pain in the bone above my ankle, something I’d never experienced before. Again I was worried but hoped for the best.



Friday September 11th: 5 miles recovery w 6 x 100m strides.

The pain in my leg was pretty consistent at this stage but not bad enough to stop me running, especially not for a recovery run, had considered not doing the strides but in the end I included them. The leg felt ok during the run and the strides but as the evening went on it started to get pretty sore.



Saturday September 12th: 9.8 miles w 6.2 miles @ 43:30.

The leg was sore again and I seriously considered not doing this run, even during the first slow mile or so before I started my 10K tune up run I was thinking about turning back for home but in the end I decided to blast out the 10k. the pain was there alright and I didn’t feel as fluid as normal but I dug in and got the 10k done, was hoping to get it done in 42:30 or so but it wasn’t to be, trotted the 2 miles (ish) home and really started to worry about this leg pain and the 17 miler I was due to do the following morning.



Sunday September 13th: 17 miles long run.

Lasted a mile and turned back, wasn’t even going to head out the door but decided to give it a go and see how the leg held up. The strides on Friday and fast 10k on Saturday had obviously taken their toll because the leg was really sore, I would’ve been mad to put myself though 17 miles of torture. Disappointed but it was the right decision.



Friday September 18th:

So it’s the day before the half marathon and I’ve done no running whatsoever since last Sunday, just some swimming and cycling.

Honestly thought I was out of this and DCM but after a couple of visits to hospital it looks like I don’t have the stress fracture the doctor and I suspected. X rays came back clear on Monday and after another visit to the hospital yesterday and examination they decided not to send me for a bone scan. The pain was really bad last Sunday and Monday and I was really worried but since then my leg has improved a lot.

They reckon the pain could’ve been shin splints or as a result of poor technique while doing strides, I’ve never been shown how to do these properly and have been making it up as I go along. I’ve been advised to knock the strides on the head for the foreseeable.

Plan for tomorrow morning is to trot the 2 miles or so up to the start line and see how I feel, any sign of the pain returning and I won’t even start the race but if I do I’m just going to treat it as a marathon pace run and see how I get on, after the week I’ve had I’d be delighted just to get around in one piece tomorrow and hopefully kick on from there over the next few weeks.