I let Chris Thompson go in front of me on the starting line, well he IS the 4th fastest British 10km runner of all time. He says thanks and wishes me a good run. I want to tell him we were in the same year at Loughborough Uni, and isn’t it funny that 17 years later we are here standing next to each other in the pissing rain – I think better of it, he probably needs to focus, I probably need to as well.
We get underway and my legs feel heavy and cold, puddles and splashing and rain everywhere. After 3km I look up to see Chris has gapped the rest of the field and is streaking away, I’m running so slowly I want to drop out. We are having a very different experience at this point, me and Chris Thompson.
At the halfway mark I am on for about 31.40 pace, my goal is sub 31min, so that seems completely out the window. At 6km, I wake up, and everyone starts coming back to me, it is déjà vécu, just like last weeks race. I finish strongly and full of running, again. Time is 31.12, Thommo narrowly beats me, by 2 min 17 seconds. These 100 mile weeks are taking it out of me.
I run 8 miles with team mate Chris Greenwood after race. Rain. Did. Not. Stop. You know when cars drive through puddles and the splash goes right over your head and then down onto you like a crashing wave? Yeah? well that happened. I stop for a toilet break in some bushes, but hands are so frozen I can’t open my trousers. Had to run them under hot tap for 5 min before they would move.
I had another 8 miles to do Sunday night to get up to a 100 mile week, I stayed in our warm house and watched Moana with Jim instead. I’m not even sorry.
| 27/2/2017 | AM | PM |
| Monday | REST | 10 tm |
| Really tired from big training weekend. Legs wobbly | ||
| Tuesday | REST | 12 tm |
| bed late and up early doing web design job, miss AM run | ||
| Wednesday | 5 tm | 16 x 400m (1min rest) in 67. 1 x 400m – 63. 7 miles total |
| still feeling tired from weekend. Don’t wanna do session, v happy with it | ||
| Thursday | 4 tm | 11 tm |
| Friday | 10 | 3 tm |
| Work do, pub, pool, curry + 3.5 pints | ||
| Saturday | 7 | 4 |
| hungover, no more drinking before Marathon! Watch Nina do Pipe Dream fell race | ||
| Sunday | Trafford 10km – 55th. 31.12. 19 miles total | REST |
| Sunday lunch with old friends in Manchester, great time. | ||
| TOTAL: | 92 miles. tm = treadmill | |