Passing on the baton.

Well there's nothing definite yet but it looks like Jim may have to have a operation on his knee.  That pretty much would certainly rule him out of the GWR, although there would be an outside chance of recovering in time it's doubtful that he would have the fitness or the miles in the tank to take on the distance.  There is a lot of talk about "respecting the distance", and whilst a half marathon obviously isn't as tough as a full marathon it shouldn't be underestimated.  Running over 13 miles is something that a couple of lumps the age and condition of me and Jim have to build up to (slowly!), or we could come a real cropper!  Anyway, more from Emergency Ward 10 when our brave (not so) little soldier has been to the knee doctor.
And so it falls to me to take up the baton on behalf of the Tweedle Dum and Tweedle Dee partnership and keep the training going.  I decided that a bit of effort was required tonight so headed out on the same 6.4 mile route I did on Monday.  The idea was to up the pace and after yesterday's rest day the legs felt OK, so I pushed on when running on the level or downhill and tried to keep it steady on the hills.  The end result was nearly three minutes quicker and under the hour mark in 59:38 (9:18 mpm).  I have to say that five weeks into my training I'm pretty happy to be running at that pace over that distance.  It's far too soon to be thinking about times for the actual race, but if I have aspirations to go under the two hour mark (9:10 mpm) for the first time in four years, then things are progressing in the right direction.  Fingers crossed I can keep it up! (S)