Happily Ever After
Life in The Rural Retreat with a beautiful wife, three cats, garden wildlife, a camera, a computer – and increasing amounts about running
Earlier posts can be found on Adventures of a Lone Bass Player, where this blog began life. Recent entries can be found here.
Trudging Towards The Finish Line
by Russell Turner - 11:07 on 01 April 2025
My penultimate long run before virtual London, in less than four weeks’ time, was not hugely encouraging. My two recent HMs had concluded at 2:14 and 2:18; yesterday, with the schedule demanding a three-hour run, I reached HM distance in 2:35 and completed the required time having covered a smidge over 15 miles. Not good. I’d hoped for 16; in the past I’ve reached 18 miles in three hours.
I do have a few excuses: the day was windy, I included a few hills, and I was run/walking, but possibly the most reasonable reason for poor performance was City Limits’ first gig for a month on Saturday night, which finished at 1.45am GMT, 2.45am BST. By the time I’d packed, returned home and tended to a tabby cat who was missing her mum (in Shetland) it was 4am (BST) before I got to bed. I was still recovering from the lost hour and lack of sleep yesterday.
There were some positives. I completed the three hours, which at one point wasn’t a given, and I ran all of the five-minute sections, even when they were uphill (although some were at a pace which might as well have been walking).
Thankfully, the taper begins after next Monday’s 3.5hr run when the longest long run will be 90mins, if I can fit it in around Matchgirl’s Farewell Ultra. I’m undecided about how I’ll approach the virtual this time, or its route. With Edinburgh four weeks later, there’s no point in aiming for a fast time. Maybe I’ll complete it ultra style, with pit stops. On the day, if all is well and as there’s no RTTS to conquer this year, I might even be tempted to press on past 50k to extend my distance record. We’ll see.
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