The running streak is still on! 52 runs in 52 days. Having built up the mileage steadily since the 1st of January the body was crying out for a rest week. So this last week I ran 30 mins every day apart from today, Sunday. I had a great deep tissue massage from Aurelie a The Tri Touch on Tuesday which had me completely shattered on Wednesday morning. I'm always amazed how bad you feel the day after a massage but how great you feel the day after the day after.
So 6 x 30 min runs and then today I ran with Alex Brooks, one of the ForGoodnessShakes boys, for 19.5 miles around Richmond Park and Bushy Park. Great stats. 19.5 miles, average HR of 140 and average speed 7m7s per mile. Pretty happy with that and it compares well to previous marathon campaigns. In fact I'd go as far as saying that I'm in great shape at the moment. Alex was great company and as a 2.34 marathon runner and recent visitor to the Hawaii Ironman I was in the company of a seriously talented athlete. In fact I found out the other night, he doesn't boast at all about his achievements so I googled it, that he ran 2.57 at Ironman UK last year. That is storming running. RESPECT!
Have just entered John Lunts (HumanRace) Breakfast Run on the 11th April. We'll see how the form is there. Previous outings have results in a 1.34 and a 1.35. I'll be disappointed if I can't get near those times. First race of this campaign and my first race in a LONG time will be the 3rd and final G3 10k fell race over at Newlands Corner on the 6th March. I've got a spanking new pair of Brooks spikes ready for that. So no blacked out toes hopefully, a problem I've suffered with in the past.
So another week down (the 7th actually) and 45 more miles in the tank. I'll be pushing to get 65-70 miles in next week. So far so good with regards to the left knee. I'm keeping both my hamstrings well stretched and the massage is helping a lot I think. Also the blisters seem to be under control for the time being. Bring it all on, I'm excited about this marathon build. It really could happen this year, I could finally run the race I know I can and break the 2.45 barrier. There will be some tears if it happens.
