Pretty good week so far. 26 miles or so and it's only Thursday! Monday I headed off up the Bervie Braes to Dunottar. It had snowed here on the Sunday night so [luckily] I had decided to take some extra gear with me in the backpack. Stroke or luck or what..The Braes were covered in 2inches of snow. So I changed from the road shoes into the hill shoes. What a difference. So much grip on the show and ice and once onto the main dirt coastal path with the head torch or, the grip and sense of propulsion was terrific. A couple of tricky sections before I got the the castle but otherwise good. From the head of the castle causeway it was up to the road, but I didn't make the mistake of last week and headed back into town on the old coast road and back down the Bervie Braes. Once back on cleanish tarmac, changed back into the road shoes and headed off round the town. Carrying the spare shoes was probably a bit excessive, but to be honest the run was much more enjoyable for being able to put the right shoes on for the two different surfaces. 6.1 mile in total.
Wednesday night was long run to Stoney from Aberdeen. The choice was either run on Wednesday in the remains of the snow, but in light winds or wait until Thursday and run home in warmer weather, but in wind and fog. I decided the fog was probably more dangerous, so home in the snow it was. One thing though - the BBC forecast was rubbish and it was blowing 15-20knts into the face all the way home. Original plan was to do 2-3miles in Aberdeen, the the 11-12 miles to Stoney and finish off with 2-3 miles in Stonehaven to get to 17miles and over 3hrs running. since there was more snow in Aberdeen I decided it was best to head straight to Stoney and then play it by ear there. Fairly tough run home into the breeze and with mixed snowy patches until south of Newtonhill. Learnt a few things:- having a walk break after a long climb can leave you very cold - better to cool down first a bit after reaching the top; when finding myself a big negative, or cold taking a gel or banana works amazing well not only to boost the energy levels, but also the mental state and the core temperature; it's one thing to sing along to music when out on your own, but don't song out loud while slogging into the breeze on a dark mixed surface and rutted track.
Once down into Stonehaven I headed up and around my 'standard' loop of the town. It's funny that after 12 miles or so the long climb from beach level to the 'upper' part of Stoney seemed pretty easy [and it was not that long ago that the climb was really hard]. Anyway round the loop, down to the harbour and back to the flat. New PB for distance and duration - 17miles and 3hrs+! Could I have run back to Aberdeen? Maybe, but definitely not probably. Was it 'no big deal'? Not quite, but neither was it a big deal for that matter. Then again progress is looking good at the moment and as long as I can keep on the right side of injury I think that is feasible in the near future. Priority now it is not to lose weight but to stay fueled, and training. Hopefully I will drop weight/fat through the shear mileage I'm putting in.
Well this morning my legs felt good actually and the walk up to the train was probably good for them. Same story all day at work with no stiffness or twinges. so tonight it was time for a recovery run. Oh I was stiff to start with, but after a mile everything freed up and then started to stiffen again after 2 and a bit miles. Anyway -not a brilliant, but probably a worthwhile 3.5miles.
So things are going well, and still trucking along to the training plan. Will I get to the target I've set? Not sure, but no problems there as I'm not publishing my goals [every time I do 'stuff' happens to get in the road of them - much better to keep them relatively private].
This weeks plan is to do 38-39miles, so only 12-ish miles to go over the weekend. Hopefully I can fit them in without disturbing the family weekend too much, or getting up too early!
No comments:
Post a Comment