Last XL run

I almost want to giggle as I write this (probably with nervousness), but that's it... that is the last XL "Long" run done before Fleetwood... "long" being 11.1 miles. (Woohoo... get me!)
It was really hard today, my hips and glutes were really aching. I'm not sure if that's because of the cold I've had which has made me quite lethargic, or the bike session yesterday... oh yes, the bike session yesterday... that was tough! I finished the 30 minutes (after hardly any training over the last week and a half) and my legs wouldn't bend. I then went to the car and tried to run across the road in the pouring rain and the legs would not cooperate at all, finally getting in the car I pushed my foot onto the clutch and got the worst cramp ever in my calf! Nice!

So, today felt very tiring too. I was reading an article on "junk miles" yesterday, and realised that I haven't done a single junk mile in the last 8 or so weeks. I used to live on junk miles, and today, as I was walking behind a bloke out running(who I thought looked like he was doing 12 minute miles), I realised how different I run now in such a short space of time. I almost wanted to go up to him and tell him he was "shuffling" and not using his hamstrings enough... but that would have made me look like a right smart arse... which, unfortunately I'm not!

I got back from the run and had an email from William about my running over the next 2 weeks. I'm to practice my race pace, and was quite looking forward to a nice comfortable 10.40mm .... errr, no! I have to rehearse the "dream" pace of 10mm so I'm prepared for anything. I'm also to write out a race template for the last 2 weeks which will get jostled around dependent on future race outcomes in order to get the best out of training.

Graeme did 14 miles again today. The plan was 18 but he rang for a lift. He's going to run with me at Fleetwood, and we are so looking forward to a great weekend.
Right, well, I have a race template to organise...