16 weeks remaining, 51.2 miles and a new addition to my midweek running.

From my knowledge of what is classed as short, middle and long distance running, 3km is the shortest of the long distances. I found this from reading about a Cooper test which is how far you can run in 12 minutes (most cross country type runners tend to get above 3km on this test). The idea is that anything over that amount is “long” and shorter is “mid”. Knowing this did not make my midweek 10 mile run on Tuesday any easier!

I had the memory of my 10 mile run to collect my car from work 9 weeks ago etched in my mind for most of the 10.8 miles, There was large portions of that effort where I was deeply uncomfortable and knowing I had forced my way through the same distance recently certainly helped when I was savagely cold and my legs were refusing to do as I asked.

My 5 miles at the gym the next night were more to the speed what I expect of my mid-week running. I managed to finish with a 7 minute mile and average just under 8 minute miles for the whole run.

I did the 7.5 mile loop on Thursday night and found a lot of the momentum I had from the night before meant I started at a reasonable pace and sustained it for the duration.

I did the 5.4 mile loop on Saturday morning which was as routine as I can remember ever doing it. It was essentially just what I do at that time of day,

My plan for finishing the week was to do 3 laps of the 7.5 mile loop today. I had been listening to the audio book of “Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance” by Angela Lee Duckworth earlier in the week and there was a passage in it that stuck with me for most of the outing.

The background to this is that people can sometimes use the fact that others are better than them at certain things as a reason to not try as hard.

I am fully aware I am not particularly fast or fluid in my running style but pride myself on persevering for a few miles further than I expected of myself a few weeks previously. This mindset was imperative to me getting through the 2nd lap today.

I found lap 1 quite comfortable and enjoyed forcing myself through the light snow, although the wind was more of an issue. By near the end of my 2nd lap my hat and gloves were soaked and I had to really block out how cold I was feeling! Before starting the 3rd lap I had some lemon squash and chocolate orange fruit and nut mix.

The 3rd lap was easier as I knew nothing else was to come after it. I managed to settle into a slow shuffle and got round in an acceptable time.

I am pleased to have got back above the 20 mile outings needed for marathons and optimistic about “getting what I came for” when the race rolls around at the end of May.