11 Weeks, 4 runs of 7.5 miles, 2 usual runs and a 15 mile run

“There are only 2 tragedies in life, one is not getting what one wants, the other is getting it”- Oscar Wilde

This week has been an interesting one, I surpassed my target mileage by Friday evening and pushed a bit more this morning but it has come at a price. I have experienced a niggling pain in my left hip for the last 10 days or so, that only seems to occur after I have been running for over an hour and means I have to swing myself into the drivers seat of my car using the handle above the window!

I’m going to have to ensure I get through the next few months without this becoming a long standing issue. This may mean settling for 45-50 miles each week instead of the 60+ I was doing on occasion this time last year. This was only the 2nd time this year I’ve ran over 50 and was certainly easier than running in Bali where kerbs were knee-high (wish this was an exaggeration!).

The vast majority of my running this week was done in a pleasant void where my heart rate hovered around 150bpm and rarely exceeded 180bpm when going up hills (my max H.R. recorded is 217). As always there are exceptions to the rule and this week it was the 2nd lap of 7.5 miles during my 15 mile run. Unfortunately my HRM watch died part way through but I had forced a pace up the main hill of this route which wasn’t sustainable for the rest of the lap. There is a great Patrick Overton quote I remembered this at the bottom of the hill and “soared” up with complete disregard for the 4 miles I had left to do when I reached the summit. Far too often this year I have settled for a easy pace during a run and let the mileage gradually increase without leaving my comfort zone. Even though I “blew up” a bit on the remaining 4 miles, I enjoyed the strain of persevering through on virtually an empty tank and knowing my 2nd climb was quicker than the first.

Despite the pace of my 15 mile run being hardly out of the ordinary, I was pleased I had embraced the “near-win” and allowed myself to fall short of what I was aiming for, while still finishing. I’m sure there will be a point traversing Skiddaw where recollecting this week will add fuel to the motivational fire.