Week 8

Started the week with a pain at the front of my lower leg / shin which I'm guessing was brought on by the camber of the roads over last weekend. Luckily I managed to book a lunchtime massage that had me close tears and as usual it did the trick.

Went for a very easy recovery type run on Monday evening but stopped after 3 miles because the pain was still there and decided to take the next two days off.

Took a chance with an easy run on Thursday on the grass track and threw in a few strides of less than 100M. Met Jarlath from the club just before I finished and together we knocked out a few extra strides.

My running shoes (Saucony Pro Grid Guide) were due for changing so I decided that now was as good a time as any so I picked up a new pair in the Great Outdoors on Friday and did 2 easy miles on the treadmill to try them out before the weekend.

Ran the Frank Duffy 10 Mile race on Saturday finishing in 65mins 10secs which is my worst time over that distance. My race started as planned with a 6:05 min mile and my plan was to run as close to an even 6:15 pace throughout. On the second lap of the 2 lap course my mile times dropped to 7min pace as soon as I hit the hills even though it didn't feel the I was slowing down. Checked my Heart Rate and it was lower than expected so I tried to push the pace but my legs wouldn't go any faster. I finished the race well under my goal time and I'm putting it down to not replenishing my carb stores since last weekend and not enough recent speed work.

Started to correct the problem as soon as I got home with the carbs and finished off the week with an early 21 mile long with Jarlath. We ran a fairly even 8:30 pace over a familiar route and what better way to spend a Sunday morning.