Well it’s July at last and that means race day the 5th July isn’t far off now. Thoughts are turning to have I done enough training? Have I done the right training? Will I get to bed early enough to get to Eccup for 8.00am in the morning? Am I eating the right food? Am I drinking enough fluid? Will we still be in a heatwave on Sunday morning? Yes I am taking this seriously!
I got out on Sunday and did 9 miles round the local roads. The route was a good one with around 1100ft of climbing involved and on the way back I did 3 ½ miles without stopping which I was pleased with. It’s a very satisfying feeling when you run that far at the end of a run and you feel ‘in the zone’, your legs feel good and you have rhythm. It was an evening run and still warm but not too warm to be stifling and suffocating. I did 9 miles in around 1:48:21, so my target of 10 miles in under 2 hours is achievable depending on the weather conditions!
Tuesday night was a very different matter. I had been at university for around 11 hours doing assignments, having meetings and emailing people. I was tired when I got home but I still went for a run. And even though it was late evening it was hot, very hot! The first mile didn’t seem too bad but after that it was struggle. A real struggle to get going and keep going but I did for 4 miles. At the end of the day you can’t give up just because it’s warm and you’ve had a hard day. You have to keep going and do your best on the day and realise that you’re not going to have a good run every time but when you do have a good run it more than makes up for all the bad ones. I still ran 4 miles in 47:28 so I suppose it wasn’t quite as bad as it felt but at least it was another bad run out of the way.
Diet wise it’s still very much a matter of trial and error, I been feeling overly tired and weak recently a combination of training hard and not eating correctly. Today I changed my diet and I feel a lot better already. I had a hemp protein shake in the morning and this feels like it’s done the trick already. I haven’t been feeling strong and after doing some research on the internet I decided to try hemp protein. I chose hemp because it is naturally occurring and seems to have the least amount of chemicals and other man made substances in it. it doesn’t look or taste very nice but I gave it a go and have felt better all day. The heat has been energy sapping but an early night and another protein shake in the morning and I’m hoping tomorrow I will have even more energy.
With 3 days to go before my first 10 mile race I’m looking forward to it and hoping for the best. The weather forecast is a lot cooler than it has been and with rain the day before the humidity should drop too which will make things a lot more comfortable to run in. On the day I’m hoping I have plenty of energy and strength to complete the race in a good time on the day. Tomorrow night is club run night so my last training run before the big day, my last chance to see what form I’m in or not…
The Autistic FellRunner 