I've had to shuffle some runs around again this week.
On the Sunday night I stayed up to watch the Oscars which left me with only four hours sleep and a general feeling not far off that of jet-lag. This meant that I failed to run my usual Monday morning four miler. But that's ok, I had anticipated it and used the Monday as my rest day.
Tuesday then became the new Monday and I ran the four mile route. Normally Tuesday would be hill day but I would push that back to Friday instead. Later that morning I flew to the Netherlands on business again, with warmer running gear than last time. Once bitten, twice shy and all that.
Woke up at 5:45am on Wednesday morning. Put on my usual running gear as well as a long sleeved running top over my short sleeved running top and also put on a warm running hat. I set off at 6am on a ten mile loop that I had worked out using Mapmyrun, trying to remember the turning points (right at the first traffic lights, right at the first roundabout, follow the road until it meets School-something Straat etc. etc.). Sometimes the joy of running in a strange land is actually just managing to get back without getting lost. My hat quickly became redundant as although it was cold my head warmed up too much beneath it. Better to be too cold than too hot. So I took it off and carried it with me, which actually helped keep my hands warm, almost like a partial glove. My long sleeved top on the other hand worked wonders. As the saying goes, there is no wrong weather, only wrong clothing. My pride had stopped me from wearing the right clothing and last week had cost me 12 miles that I had failed to run. Stupid pride. You can see the route I ran below:
The next morning I ran two laps of a figure of eight nearby the hotel. This allowed me to run seven miles at a steady pace. Being warmer reduced the desire to cut the run short like last week and once again I thanked my decision to bring the long sleeved top.
I flew back to Blighty on Thursday evening and set off on Friday morning to run twelve hill repetitions. I had been looking for a new hill course and finally I think I've found one. The incline is 400 metres long and rises about 10% over the full length which according to the internet is the ideal incline for hill training. Same again next week I think.
Saturday was back to normal and my usual five mile easy paced route.
This left the last run of the week, a twenty mile long slow run. Normally for a run of this length and time (just shy of three hours) I would take two or three gels with me. I have a stash of gels that I buy in bulk. I checked them on the morning (stupid, I know) and found that they were out of date. Great. A glass of water and I was out of the door. It was quite cold and took me about four or five miles to get into my run. The route was one I had done once before about 18 months ago, going up to Wembley, down the Harrow Road to Paddington, traversing Baker Street and then back along Oxford Street all the way to Ealing. The last time I ran this route I remember having to stop in the Hilton at Paddington for a "comfort break". Well, history repeated itself and I found myself using the restrooms of the 5 star hotel. The advantage of being in running gear is that no-one questions whether or not you are a guest. It appears to be the assumption that you are one of those strange creatures who take their running gear with them when they stay at hotels (*ahem*). Anyway, the lack of gels didn't appear to have any major implications although I will need to use some for the marathon itself so I'll buy some from my local supermarket so I can make sure they don't have an adverse effect on my performance.
Here's the 20 miler from this morning:
Next week gives me a day off on Monday which is a nice bonus. I'm back in Holland for two nights a week until the end of March, so I'll be searching for more midweek routes. Then I have to run a half marathon race next Sunday. I don't think there are any locally so once again I'll run against myself on a nearby route that I've used before.
