One and a half weeks to go.

Well it's all been a bit quiet on the blog for a while as Steve and Jim have been on their holibobs!  We (and our respective better halves) have been in sunny Spain in the small coastal town of El Campello, and very lovely it was too!  I managed to get out for a few runs whilst away (a couple of three milers and a five miler), going out first thing in the morning and running along the sea-front and around the harbour and Pirate's Tower.  It made a very pleasant change from the streets of Surrey (as pretty as they are!), but it was hot even at 9:30 am, so I wouldn't have liked to run much later in the day.  I also fell foul of the 'Kerrylergy' and so wasn't feeling up to doing too much more than what I did achieve. 
I had my first run back on Blighty soil last night, a gentle three miler, and now I need to crack on with the last few runs before the GWR.  9 days and counting! (S).

Down to earth.

Well that was a mixed bag.  This morning was the inaugural Croydon Half Marathon and the weather was pretty much perfect, bright and dry but not too hot.  However I've not had the best couple of night's sleep leading up to the race and as I toed the start line with my mate Mark from work, I had to admit that I was already feeling tired!  The excitement and anticipation I'd felt at the start in Fleet simply wasn't there today and the thought of the 13.1 miles ahead of me just conjured up a feeling of dread.  Not surprisingly the first four miles were torture!  I was sluggish and disjointed, lungs heaving and sweat pouring off me as I lumbered up the hills.  The hills weren't that bad actually,  but it was just one of those days.  After five miles I made a decision to stop worrying about the time, I had said all along that this was only going to be a training run and once I reconciled that decision in my mind things started to improve almost immediately.  Well, when I say improve I actually mean improve mentally, miles 8, 9 and 11 were actually my worst in terms of time but I actually felt better!  I finished the race in 2:04:22, nine minutes slower than Fleet, but still quicker than all my performances in 2010.  So all in all I have to be pleased with the result, a good training run ahead of the Great West, not too far to travel and a nice medal to boot! (S).