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....felt awesome !!  Picked a hilly route, and despite feeling terrible on saturdays long run, yesterdays rest made all the difference !

Pushed hard on the hills, and tried to keep it going on the flat, and legs held up no problem !

Wish i could run like that for 26.2 miles, but thats some far off dream at the moment !! One day ...... maybe !

Cant wait for next run now, schedule says 5mile easy , so thats what its gonna be, no heroics at this stage ! Weather forecast is rubbish for tomorrow, maybe im not looking forward to run that much after all !!!

See how it goes anyway !

Tags: gym workouts

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I know every run cant be a good one, im only hoping that on the 13th, i dont have one like yesterday !!

Im putting it down to having played rugby on thursday nite, and was really stiff after it, as i used a pile of muscles i havent used in a while !!

17 miles was on the agenda, and about the 10 mile mark , i had to run past my house, and thats about where i almost gave up !! Felt ok up til about 9 miles, then legs tired, and i almost went home !!

Probably did too much on thursday, im not touching a rugby ball now, til after London !! 

Struggled on , and eventually completed my run, which, today  im glad i did, and today i even feel good, legs not sore at all !

After last weeks 20miles, was a bit deflated last nite, but, learnt a lesson, rest is just as important as exercise !!

Looking forward to a week with less mileage as taper kicks in, and hopefully a bit more life in my legs !!

Nite !

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 Was sooo  worried about 20 miler yesterday !!! 

Not only because it would have been the furthest ive ever run, but been off work with a nasty cold , and looking back, maybe i shouldnt have gone as it wasnt perfect running conditions , or anywhere near it , and today i feel like my cold is back with a vengance !!

More wind and rain, although was sleet for second 10 miles !

If London is anything other than driving rain, and 40-50 mph winds, im gonna struggle , cos thats what ive become used to running in !!!

The run itself, first 2 miles, 2 significant climbs (didnt really think the route through!!!) , and then 18 miles of up and down sort of single track road over moorland, in pretty much a straight line, with the wind blowing on my left side the whole way ! 

Felt surprisingly good, until last 2-3 miles anyway, and then the conditions , which were at their worst by now, started getting the better of me, and i stopped enjoying myself big time !! If i never had to carry on til i got home, id have given up !!

Also i found out that , on single track roads, runners dont really have any right of way whatsoever, and if you dont jump into  the ditch, then your gonna get run over !! Half the cars  dont even slow down to pass you !!  If i took a swear box with me, it would be pretty full by now !! One thing about living on a small island, you kinda know most people, and if/when i see any of these lovely people again, i may be having words, to educate them !!! As a large rugby playing type, they may take some notice !!

3hours 50 minutes was the time in the end, which im delighted about, but may have started too fast over the hills, and tired loads towards the finish !

Now isnt the time to get another cold, gonna have to watch what i do, and maybe listen to my mother and wife more, who are starting to think ive lost my marbles !! As for my son, he reckons i should do another 20 miler tomorrow, just because, thats all !! Hes a tough coach !!

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Midweek run disappointment is now a distant memory, 18 miles tonight , and , dare i say it , i felt not too bad !! Not saying i felt fantastic, all the way round, there were one or two moments where i struggled, but, having said that, felt a million times better than same route from last week !

No major niggles afterwards either, just some general stiffness, but thats to be expected !

I wonder if its got anything to do with all the pasta ive been eating, wed, turs, friday, had pasta every nite, its bound to make some difference!!

Tonight, chinese takeaway, only so much pasta a man can eat !!

Its a reward !! Thats all !!

Just reallised, dont know any rugby scores from today, this running nonsense has taken over my life !!!  Better go and look if Italy beat scotland , which i have a bad feeling about, and maybe even if wales won a Grand Slam ! Either way, most of Wales will be drunk tonight !!

Did i mention i ran 18 miles by the way ??

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Monday , i could run ! Wednesday, despite feeling fantastic, and no soreness from mondays 18 miles, i cant !!

Made it about a mile into a 7 miler, and i just died!! Legs felt about 15 stone each, and although , heart and lungs were fine, i just couldnt run !!

Was that close to going home, but i carried on, and if anyone had seen me, and knew i was going to London, they would be thinking why was i bothering !!!

I know you cant have a great run every time you go out, but , seriously, i felt better on my first ever run , when i took up running a couple of years ago !

Didnt go out today , and probably wont get tomorrow either, due to ridiculous work load, so legs should be well rested for Saturdays 18 miles ! Thats the theory anyway ! Fingers crossed ! And still have to run sports relief mile in the afternoon on saturday with my 7 year old, although after 18 in the morning, my money is on him !!! 

Saturday night , brother wants to play squash, no way thats happening !!!

Why cant i stop eating by the way ?? lol

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Sons hospital appointment at weekend kinda put a stop to all things running for a few days !!  Turns out he has a blockage in his kidney and needs an operation to sort it, 5 days in Yorkhill Hospital to recover too, plus they have to do more tests and maybe even remove a kindney , poor guy !!  That wont be for a couple of months though , and to look at him , there is nothing wrong with him , he cant get his head round the fact that he needs an operation when hes fine !!

Anyway, back to the running !!  Last night , despite what scedule said, i thought it better if i caught up the long run i missed at the weekend, 18 miles !

Route i picked was 9 miles out and back, and for the first 9 miles , it is a steady long slow climb, which seemed to go very well, and turning at half way , i reallised the wind had got up slightly , and 9 miles home, although , long gentle descent, was going to be a little tougher than i had imagined !

By mile 16, there wasnt a whole lot left in my legs !! And the wind was getting up all the time !! Found myself even talking to myself, or even talking to my legs !! Telling them not to be so silly, i was almost home !! If youd said 4 moths ago id be talking to my legs, id never have started out on this insanity !!

Anyway, managed home, and because i was so late going out, it was almost midnight and missus was already in bed !!!  Too high to go to sleep , i found myself watching rubbish on tv til 2am, and drinking loads of water !!

Got up to go to bed, and legs had turned into those of a 97 yr old !!! And no offence meant to any 97 yr old marathon runners is intended !!  Took forever to climb stairs to bed !!

Bit stiff this morning, but a swim at lunchtime, and they are slowly coming back !!

Adapted schedule for this week has me down for  7 miles tomorrow, and 18 on saturday morning, and son wants me to run sport relief mile with him at lunchtime saturday, gonna be so embarrassing if i am half as crippled as after last nites 18 !!!

Tags: its what you run for

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After massaging and stretching my calf muscle all day today, went out in the howling wind and rain for a 10 miler , i know, probably not the wisest thing to do, but had to be done !!

Sore calf muscle seemed to hold up well too, and managed home without any major mishaps ! And even now, 3 hours later, calf muscle hasnt developed any of the pain that came with any of my last 4 runs !

Better not get too confident though, 18 miles this weekend is gonna be a major test, every long run from now on is futher than ive ever run before , but , on the plus side, every long run i finish is a PB !!! How many people can claim a PB every weekend ??

Probably wake up tomorrow , unable to walk !!! lol

More massage and stretching required i reckon  !

Added stress of son going to Yorkhill hospital for kids on friday , to have kidney scans to find out why one isnt working properly, doesnt really help, but, some things are more important than running ! He comes first, whatever happens !

Fingers crossed anyway, will see what consultant surgeon has to say first !

Nite x

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I know im probably not, but, calf muscle on my left leg has been niggling since i did my longest run ever a couple of weeks back , 16 miles !!

Last weekend, after 13 miler before a wedding i went to on friday, felt fine running, warmed up really well, stretched good too, but, 2 hours after i finished running, calf muscle had become really painful, and red wine at wedding reception, didnt seem to do any good for the pain !!! lol

But , by monday, after loads of stretching and light jogging, it felt brand new, until last nite, same thing, after a 7 miler of Fartlek type running (2minutes jog, and 1 minute bursts) ,  calf has tightened up again, so much so that tonights 6 mile recovery run became, 1 mile very slow jog on track, and some stretching !!

Schedule says 10miler for tomorrow night, and an 18 miler for the weekend , gonna just have to see what the old body is saying to me !

If i warm up properly, it seems to be fine when i run, problem seems to be just when im finished, and the next day too !

Just my body moaning about the distances its recently being asked to run i reckon ! Will see how we go tomorrow !

Oh, and i finally found out which charity im running for, Multiple Sclerosis. Boss said he would double his amount if i finished in the top 10 !!!  And maybe even treble it, if i dont get lost and make it back to work !!

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