Tubthumping

“I get knocked down, but I get up again
You’re never gonna keep me down”

As cheesy intros go that’s got to be right up there with my best! Maybe later on I’ll have a whiskey drink, or a vodka drink or even a lager drink …. but you can keep your cider drink! Yuck!

After that absolute hames of a run yesterday I reckoned that today’s outing could be arguably one of the most important runs I’ve ever done.

It so easily could have gone the other way. I could have stayed in bed this morning, scared to go out, convincing myself that there was no point, that I was no good and finding something more pressing to do.

But I didn’t. As soon as I woke I did a little check of my body from the toes up looking for any aches and pains. I couldn’t find any so I knew that it was now or never for today’s run. If I’d put it off I’d never have gone out.

The plan called for 5 miles, so I did 5 miles. Mentally it was a little daunting because I’ve only gone that distance once since the marathon but clearly I had to do it, the Great South Run is 10 miles. The thing is, I thought nothing of doing 5 miles before the marathon so why should it be an issue now?

In the end it wasn’t a problem. Yes, it was tough and challenging getting the first couple of miles out of the way but once that was done then it wasn’t too bad.

After yesterday I wasn’t really that worried about speed. Yes, I kept a wee eye on it but I wasn’t trying to break any records, although it was good to record negative splits for the last couple of miles ….. and that sort of confirms my theory that I get stronger the longer the distance.

I was aiming for “Eddie Izzard speed”, 7-7.5km/hr, which I managed, so that was pleasing.

It’s all about getting the miles in my legs and getting over that burn in the first half-an-hour or so.

And speaking of miles, today’s run put me over 200 miles for 2016. That’s nothing compared to seasoned runners so perhaps a more accurate figure for me would be the 352 miles I’ve done in the last 12 months, September to September.

So I’ve run three days in a row now and emerged relatively unscathed. Can I have a day off please?