Training has been going well and looking back over my training log it looks as though things have been consistently going well for a long time now so i'm looking forward to putting that to good use with a good race next week.
I returned to the UK last Saturday as I was racing in the Great Yorkshire Run in Sheffield on the Sunday. I didn't know how this would work out for me as I haven't ever flown in the day before (usually i'll fly 2 days before so as to have a rest day once I get to the venue but that usually means I sleep well the first night and not a wink the next). Surprisingly I didn't sleep much the night before the race but it actually didn't seem to affect me as I felt pretty good in the morning and just replaced lack of sleep with coffee. I went through a whole pot of coffee when I went down to breakfast and that seemed to work a treat. The race course is an out and back and for about the first mile you are running downhill. I had run this course a couple of years ago so I knew what to expect and to not get carried away for the first half of the race. We quickly got into a good rhythm with Chris Thompson leading a group of 5 of us through 5km in 14.08. This felt very easy so I was thinking that I could run a pretty significant PR if things continued this way, even with the long hill at the end. Well that was quickly dispersed from my mind when we made the turn around and hit a really strong wind. I hadn't noticed how strong it was as it was just pushing us along for the first half but as we ran back to the town, it felt as though we were running at a snails pace. I hit the front for a little while as everyone was looking at each other to lead and I didn't mind as I had tucked in for the first half. I say that, but after 1km of being in the lead I quickly got sick of it and stepped off to the side to get someone else to lead. The lead changed hands a good few times before Chris made a move with 2km to go and 3 of us followed. Everything in my head was telling me how little running time I had left and just to be strong on the long steep hill at the end but it didn't work as I was dropped on the first of the hills with a mile to go. I finished up well and came 4th in a time of 29.08 which I was fine with but Chris and Mottram had run 28.50 so they must have been attacking each other over that last km. It was good to catch up with everyone there and get my legs moving quickly so soon after my flight so the race served its purpose well. A few hours after the race, I jumped on the train up to Edinburgh and stayed with my best man, AC so we could catch up and talk shop for a while. To help tackle the effects of jet lag, I had to stay up as late as possible that night so we ended up chatting until 4am!
I woke up the next day at 1pm feeling really fresh with no soreness in my legs from the race. After heading over to AC's restaurant, Illegal Jacks and saying good bye, i jumped on the bus to Perth to stay with my dad for a few days. He picked me up from the bus depot and dropped me off in town so I could run the 8 miles from the city to his house over the back roads. I hadn't done this run in about 8 years so it was good to get out there again. Its a really hilly run and this was perfect as that made sure I was running slow enough to recover from the race the day before. The road runs along the hilltops so you can see over the valley so that made it very enjoyable. The next day wasn't so nice. I woke up to torrential rain thundering on my window and about 10m visibility. I sat in the kitchen with a coffee hoping that it was going to calm down outside by the time I decided to run. It didn't! I figured I was going to soaked either way so headed out with the hope that I would make it back without turning into a prune. I got through about 25 mins of the run without too much trouble as it was fairly shaded with trees but after that it became very miserable. I didn't have a cap on (a beanie instead - big mistake) so I had to shade my face with both hands just enough to see that the rain was horizontal. I nearly turned around but was determined to get out to 50 minutes and turn then as I would have the wind with me after that. Those last few hundred meters were just dire. Anyway...I got to the turn around and coasted home as the wind pushed me back to the house in 43 mins and I could finally dry off. Needless to say that I fell asleep for a good 2 hours after that and waited for my dad to get home from work so we could go to the gym and do my second run there. I just kept to it an easy 4 miles as I started to feel a little light headed and then lifted afterwards. It felt good to get the weights done as i'm pretty sure I won't get into the gym for the rest of my trip home.
I headed through to St Andrews the next day to stay with Ronnie (my old coach) and get some running on the golf courses and beach done. I always love coming back to do that run as its really scenic no matter what the weather. i met my mum and campbell in the evening and had a good dinner with them down town. Somehow the jet lag kicked back in that night and I didn't fall asleep until 3.30am. This meant I just slept late and did my first run at 12pm. I would have done my workout but I felt pretty tired so just kept it easy and decided to do the workout later on once I got through to Edinburgh. I was going back through to hang out with AC and to meet a friend of mine from school. The work out went well (1 min hard, 1min easy fartlek) even though I was feeling tired. I was moving quickly and covering a lot of ground so that gave me confidence for next weeks race. I caught up with an old school friend and training partner, Jonny Seeley over a pint and he filled me in on all the details over everything thats been going on over this way while i've been gone.
Saturday morning I slept in a little and then headed out for a 90 minute run with the last 2 miles hard. It was a weird run as I kept having to stop and pee but at least that meant that I was hydrated. I didn't feel great for the first half an hour but once I hit the canal and headed back towards town I felt miles better and starting moving well. I got to the Meadows (a popular training area in the city) and started my pick up. I didn't push it too hard and felt pretty easy doing it. I finished up there as there was an east of Scotland training day going on so I said a few hi's and then got on with my drills and stretches. then jogged the 5 minutes back to AC's apartment to get showered and changed. I'm now just sitting in the restaurant with my feet up before I head back through to St Andrews for another few days.
This weeks training won't be too hard with the race on Sunday so i'll just be resting up and strolling around St Andrews for most of the time. I have a photo and video shoot with Mizuno on Tuesday so that should be good and then i'll head down to Newcastle on Friday.
I hope everyones training is going well and i'll update you all later on in the week.
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