19 April - Sessions 96-99

2041 BST - Busy weekend. I started out with an easy 4 miles on Saturday. Unremarkable. Afterwards I took the family up to RAF Lakenheath and Mildenhall, two of the larger US Air Force Bases here in the UK. They're practically collocated about 200 miles from Bristol. We had a nice time. Of course I ate way too much...Taco Bell, Cinnabon (yummy),  prime rib dinner, big breakfast, more Cinnabon and snacks on the way home. I finished off the weekend with dinner at one of our favorite pubs. The weather was beautiful all weekend.

The worst part about the weekend is I skipped my LSD on Sunday. I was supposed to run 20 miles but when the alarm went off Sunday morning, I just didn't feel like it. I was very tired from not sleeping well on the pull out couch, which was not comfortable at all...the floor would have been better! I didn't have much of an opportunity to scope out a route. Normally it isn't a big deal but since I was running a long way, I wanted to have some idea where I was going. This was a rural area and some of the roads didn't have sidewalks. Plus you can exit the base where we were staying fairly close to the lodging facility, but you can enter there. I really didn't want to be running around aimlessly unsure of where I was going. Even so, I almost got up to run. What kept me in bed was my ankle. I thought it might be getting better, but it really hasn't. It was actually bothering me quite a bit on Friday and some also on Saturday, although not so much when I'm running. It's weird actually. I figured since I was tired anyway giving my ankle two days rest would be good. Perhaps by Tuesday it would be better. Besides, it would have taken close to 3 hours to run the 20 miles. I wanted make sure we were all packed up and ready to go so we could get to breakfast  when they opened at 1000. I wanted to do what we needed to do so we could get home at a decent hour, which fortunately we did. I have mixed feelings about the whole thing. I was glad I rested the extra day, but at the same time I feel like I missed out on some important race preparation. 26 miles is a long way and I want to make sure I'm up to the task.

After resting again Monday, I was back to training Tuesday. I did 6 miles: warm up, 11x1 min repeats, with a cool down at the end. I was warm and sunny this morning. Well, 16 deg (Celsius) but it felt warmer with the sun blazing down. It was actually nice. I ran the repeats as hard as I could and reached 176 bpm on some of them. The first two are always the easiest and then I start to fatigue. The last few were pretty tough, some being uphill. I put forth maximum effort though. As much as I dislike these kinds of workouts, I know it's what makes me faster and it really works!! I started out doing 1 min slow, 1 min recovery, but after 3 or 4 repeats, I had to increase the recovery time. I alternated between 1:30, 2:00, and 1:00 depending on how I felt. After some of the repeats I walked a little to get my HR down. After 4 repeats with only a minute recovery, it wasn't going down fast enough.

So overall the workout was good, but it didn't finish off so well. Towards the end I was crapped on by a bird. At first I thought it was a bee or something that ran into me but it didn't take me too long to realize that wasn't the case. I didn't get hit too bad, just some on my shoulder (coulda been worse) but I was angry nonetheless. What are the odds? It gets better from there...when returned to the locker room and got in the shower, I was mortified when I discovered there was no hot water. Maybe not such a bad thing as I was hot from running out in the sun, but the water wasn't lukewarm or even cool. It was ICE COLD. I was angry yet again...why was there no hot water?? This isn't rocket science! I wasn't sure what to do. I guess I could have went somewhere else, but then I would have had to get dressed and carry all my stuff to another shower, with no guarantee of hot water. I guess I could have not showered but then I would have been sweaty and stinky and I really didn't want to put my uniform back on like that. I didn't see that I had any alternative than to brave the cold water. It was miserable. I got clean though! I'd like to say it ended up being refreshing but that is an understatement.

Edinburgh Marathon Training Session 96
Edinburgh Marathon Training Session 99