Further... and ever so slightly faster

Last night I did the usual 30 minutes on the bike. The faster sections I was quite amazed to see for the first 30 seconds or so maintaining a 120 -124 rpm, which afterwards deteriorated to around 115 - 120 rpm for the remainder of the 2 minutes. At the end, I realised I had cycled 0.35 of a mile further than I have done previously, in the 30 minute session.

I had to go to work this morning and didn't get out for my run until lunch time. I only had a banana beforehand, and unfortunately didn't have any gels left (it has been established that my body prefers carbs to burn during a run, so gels are a requirement for the long run). I set off and thought it seemed really warm and humid (again!). I was going to chose a different route, however decided against this as I felt I had to get my head around the Heerema run (which is 10.6 miles). I find it very difficult, but it's a mind thing, not a particularly hilly route.

So, I made sure I didn't do the first mile too fast (which I do every time), and did well with 10.45. The next few miles were fairly comfortable, which normally happens, and then from about 5 miles I started to find it really difficult, which is also quite normal. I don't know if it's the "accumulative" effect of the XL vest, but I really struggle on the second half of my XL runs. Unbelievable really, I'm not exactly carrying loads of weight in it.

So, the second half was run/walked, however I made myself run a decent way each time before resorting to walking, and had already decided to do a loop around my home to make the distance longer. At one point it looked like I was going to do 11 miles in under 2 hours, but I was just too tired to keep the pace up, and came in at 2:01:46. On a positive note, this is now the longest XL run I have done, I did 11 miles (as opposed to 10.62 in a similar time 5 weeks ago). My pace today was also the fastest I've done whilst wearing the vest.

When I got in, my Ultragen recovery drink didn't touch the sides, then I was in the fridge eating fruit and drinking coke (I saw a kid with a can of coke at 7 miles, and was tempted to partake in a spot of grievous bodily harm in order to nick the coke off him!)

I sat frowning in the living room, after I'd had my bath... "It isn't getting easier", I told Graeme. "I don't think it's supposed to Claire,but you're getting fitter and faster, you're just knackered all the time so can't feel the benefits... wait til you do a taper", he smiled! Bless him, he says all the right things at the right time!