Friday I did my step training, this time with no weight for 10 minutes (by way of a warm up) and then 20 minutes carrying 7KG. It went very well and I only found the last 2 or 3 minutes tiring.
Saturdays "long run" came around very quickly. I was very nervous as I was trying out a couple of things... 8 minutes run and 2 minutes walk, new Brooks trainers and my first run duration of 1 hour and 30 minutes. I spent nearly an hour procrastinating, wondering if I should do it on the treadmill instead... well, it was very very windy outside! After a while I told myself to 'man up' and I carefully measured out 1/2 a litre of water for my Camelbak. I figured that I would only need around that amount of water and didn't want to add another difficulty to the run by going out carrying weight too... that is for another week!
It was beautiful and sunny with a cold nip in the air, and as I ran along I felt like a proper runner for the first time this year. With my Camelbak, compression tights and top, sunglasses and cap I ran along feeling quite amazing. The first 8 minutes running went by, then the next... and the next. When I turned at 45 minutes to come home I was instantly hit by the force of the wind in my face. That stayed with me for the rest of the run home. I was stunned to find I could run through it though and the only really difficult part was the last 8 minute run when I ran in a very open area with the wind really blowing strongly. I still got through it though. I also found that running uphill is much less of an issue and I can recover running on a flatter part straight afterwards.
When I got home I wasn't tired at all. I felt great. I had a shower and went to a wedding. Unfortunately I drank a couple of glasses of red wine, the first making me say to Graemes' brother Paul it was so oaky I would literally be ill if I drank too much of it. So why did I? Who knows... the oak taste didn't bother me after 1 glass. The taste might not have bothered me but the wine did and I was back home and in bed dying by 8.30pm and I missed the evening party altogether!!!
Today I have not felt great. Serves me right! Also my ankle (on my bad foot) has been a little sore. To be honest I was expecting this to happen as it often does after I've had a lay off from running. So, it is possible that I will have to have 2 or 3 days off running this week just until it gets sorted out, but with 10 weeks to go to the Cayman Islands marathon and me already being at 8.3 miles for my long run, I'm confident I can do enough to get round the course on the day. My plan next week (ankle permitting) is to run/walk for 2 hours, and then after that I will be adding 15 minutes on per week, which is what I would normally do. I'm not sure when XL running will start... that's a decision that William and Shaun will have to make for me I think. If it were up to me I'd do far too much far too soon.
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