Last year's half marathon escapade ended up with a four figure sum of physio/electrotherapy/acupuncture on my back and, er, behind.
This year, there was a lot more spare time to train thanks to the crash oil prices and the ensuing mass layoffs in the oilfield services industry. The better weather has meant that I've been running since mid January. I learnt my lesson from last year and didn't try a short training program, instead slowly ramping up the distance on my long weekend run. Only when I was reasonably convinced I could complete the distance did I stump up the cash to enter. Here's my longest run from two weekends ago:
It was a very long way, especially since I've spent most of the last month nursing unhappy calf muscles, thanks to the start of the outdoor football season. I've spent the last two and a bit weeks easing down the distance to try and save my legs, with the help of hot baths, foam rollers, stretching, and torturing leg muscles with lacrosse balls. I now understand why the race has been scheduled for 6:30am, given that even at 8am, it's bordering on uncomfortable if it's a sunny day.
My general pace has improved from the run you can see above, so I hope to be somewhere between 2:05:00 and 2:10:00 for the race itself. Running under two hours is just too far away. Reward for completing Sunday's run will be a trip to the far south of the city for proper, English-style fish and chips.
