My new training buddy

Meet my new training buddy. I have never listened to music while i run before. Any attempts I made would generally end up with the buds falling out and dangling around my legs every five minutes. However now I have found a decent pair of earphones that stay in place I can see why people like to listen to music while they run!

Headed out at 5.15 today into the nice cool temps for the long run that I put off on Monday. Ran a 7 mile road loop with my new training buddy and then met up with Tim for 8 miles out and back at Mcalpine. Total 15.4 miles in 1:47.

Considering the workout last night legs felt pretty decent until about mile 10 and the last few miles the legs were sore. Lungs were good though and it was good to have that really tired feeling in the legs again- I haven't been doing enough long runs lately. Got to my desk this morning and realised I had run nearly 25 miles since I logged off last night....

Lactate threshold

Feel I've been neglecting it lately so did my 10k tempo on the track that I like to do from time to time. Buoyed on by Man U's earlier success and the beautiful sunny evening I registered a decent workout

2.17 w/up (14.01) then changed into the fasttwitch. Goal was to run 5.30 pace and feel smooth throughout. Ended up running nice and easily through 4 miles but forcing it a bit on the last couple. Finished pretty strong though with a 75 last quarter

5.22/5.26/5.25/5.25/5.27/5.27/75 for 33.47. 5k splits were 16.53/16.54

Ysterday I ran an easy 7 at lunch time in the end but still didn't manage to avoid the rain. Got completely drenched including a farcical incident where a tidal wave engulfed me from head to toe as a truck passed. Shoes are still drying from that run but weather set fair for rest of week. Planning to get up early and get 15 in tomorrow morning before work, with temps in the low 40s!

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Reports of our demise have been exaggerated

Champions League Semi Final Result

Sore

Legs have been feeling very sore since the race on Saturday which is unusual for a 5k for me and is probably a sign that 3 back to back Saturday's of racing may have taken its toll. Headed out yesterday for the middle 6.6 miles of Tim's 20 mile run (he obviously wasn't as fatigued as me from the race!) and felt fine, just sore!

Plan was to do my long run this morning before work but when I woke up at 4.45 the rain was absolutely lashing down outside with no sign of abatement so i have reorganised my week. I'll run another recovery run later today and go long Wednesday or Thursday. The way my legs are feeling that might be for the best anyway.

With the marathon to focus on later this year, my training schedule for the rest of the year has taken shape too. Obviously I can't expect to train hard all summer and expect a good performance at Richmond, so the plan is to keep this cycle of training going until June 7th when there is a new apparently flat and fast 5k in town which I have set as my short term goal race. After that I will chill out through June and July, build on my base, throw in the occasional tempo run, and then start to ramp up the training again in August, so I can have three months of dedicated training for the marathon. This should work well as June and July are typically horrible months for the weather so I can acclimatise gradually before the hard work kicks in

Not a great day!

I knew it wasn't going to be a great day when I turned up to the race only to find the course I had run round and scoped out yesterday had been changed- again!! So that was pointless then!

Actually the race didn't go too bad. It was the 'Skyline 5k' the second race of the 'Run For Your Life' Grand Prix series. Having missed the first race five weeks back through injury I was looking forward to toeing the line again with 'the big boys'. The nice thing about this race (apart from the fast finish) is that the top three win gorgeous framed prints of the Charlotte Skyline. Having won one the first year I was here, I missed out last year by coming 4th and I had promised Lisa that I would be doing my best to bring one home today as she doesn't like the one I won before! To do that I had a feeling I would need to run sub 16 and beat Chris Lamperski.....

Marchinko was there, monster of the roads, 4 time GP winner and a nice 1.09 half marathon under his belt two weeks ago. Tim was in, my training partner and part time guru/coach/chauffeur, ready to knock some rust off before heading to Duke for a big track meet next week. Lamperski, who beat me into 3rd in the GP last year and has been in hiding doing some great training. And Robert Miller, 5th in the GP last year, who always seems to finish either one place ahead of me or behind me depending on who is having a good day!

True to form, the five of us took it out. I just settled into a pace I thought I could hold for the race and noone else wanted to take it on so I actually found myself leading the group, which was a little unusual! Approaching the first mile mark (first mile was pretty much all uphill) the clock was obviously ticking a little slower than the rest of the boys wanted, so Marchinko jumped straight past me, taking Tim and Chris with him and leaving Miller and I fighting our own battle. I went through the mile in 5.18 which was fairly slow but I wasn't too concerned as the hardest part was done.

Second mile was 5.08. This mile was mainly downhill but included a short sharp hill that sapped the energy out of you. At this point Marchinko was pulling clear, Tim and Chris were slugging it out and Robert was just behind me. Now the last mile is fairly fast so i was thinking if I could bring home a 5 minute mile I still had a pop at the sub 16. However, although I felt pretty strong the 'pop' wasn't there and I couldn't gain on Chris uphead in 3rd and Miller was catching me too. "Sorry Lisa" I was thinking at this point! Miller came past me with about 400 meters to go but I was pretty confident I would take him again on the last hill and so it proved. Mile 3 was 5.14 and I came home 4th in 16.12. Interestingly, the top 5 finished in the same order they did in the whole GP series last year. Also Chris had run 16.02 so my pre race prediction was spot on.

So warmed down with Tim and hung around for the race awards. Tim had his Blackberry so I immediately had to find news of the Chelsea Man U game that was going on at that time. The news was good. We were holding them 1-1 and only a few minutes to go. The title was practically ours. Then the three winners went off and got their prints and partook in a seemingly endless photo session. By the time Tim got back he refreshed the news feed. Disaster! Chelsea had grabbed a late late winner and thrown the title race wide open again. With two games to go we are level on points with Chelsea but have a superior goal difference so the destiny is still in our own hands. That's why I love and hate football though. Last week I was jumping around the house like a madman celebrating our own late late goal, this week I'm depressed!

So not a very happy chappy today! Have friends coming round later for pizza and beers so i'd better cheer myself up for them! Then my designated driver is picking me up and we are going to shoot some pool. Hopefully after all that I'll be in a better mood!

So I've gone ahead and chosen it

Saturday November 15th Richmond Marathon

I've been contemplating for a while which marathon to choose for my second attempt and after careful consideration Richmond fits the bill. It is apparently reasonably flat and fast, Lisa's parents live an hour away so accommodation is not an issue and the family can all come and support, and it fits in nicely with my summer/fall racing schedule.

Now i just have to stay healthy and work out how to arrange my training this year so that I can hopefully peak for the marathon!

Meanwhile I did my run over tomorrow's course a couple of times for today's workout. Other than exceedingly tight hamstrings and a blister because of new shoes I'm feeling pretty good for the race. I ran 15.57 here last year but they have changed the course and it is slower now but I'm looking forward to the race!

Keeping it in check

Had my new shoes, headphones and garmin today, the weather was beautiful- 50s, clear skies, slight chill- so I was good to go! ran 3.4 out to meet Tim on the trails and then ran back to my house over the same route for 6.8. Wanted to go longer but stuck to the plan and held myself back. Felt good after rest day yesterday which is not always the case....

Happy St George's Day

I was just reading through the build up to the big Champions League semi final this afternoon between Man U and Barcelona on the BBC website when I discovered it was St George's Day today. As this is officially England's 'national day' you may be surprised that I had forgotten all about this until I just read about it but that sums up what a small event this day plays in a typical Englishman's calendar and I think that is sad. Americans have July 4th, we have April 23rd. Imagine only remembering it was July 4th through reading about it on a website and you'll see what I mean!

This all reminded me of an incident I forgot to mention that happened during my workout last night. As I was warming down, the high school next door were just about to kick off a football (soccer!) game and the national anthem was piped out over the tannoy. Not only this, but 4 people who were at the track actually stopped and stood, hand on heart, while the anthem was played. Awesome stuff. The only time you get to hear the national anthem in England is at Medal ceremonies (ie. rarely!) and before most International fixtures and I think that is a crying shame! I actually felt quite awkward carrying on my warm down but others at the track were carrying on so I didn't feel so bad!

Anyway, Happy St George's Day to any of my English readers out there!!

For the record I am celebrating our national day by not running at all and tracking Manchester United's game against the Spanish invaders from Barcelona (despite the fact that there are only 6 English players in our squad of 18 tonight)

Got the bug again

Had a great unproductive time at work yesterday tracking everyone's progress at Boston. I actually tracked 9 different people I knew running (although I guess I don't really know Lance Armstrong!) Each had their own tale to tell and most followed the same pattern of starting off strong and losing their way during the hills then not being able to pick it up again the last few miles (all except Lance of course who appeared to run a great race despite not being in the sub 2.40 shape that had been rumoured)

It was actually really exciting being able to track everyone every 5k. I was following friends from different parts of the world and little did they know that they were passing each other back and forth! The biggest 'crash' was performed by one of my best mates from England, a 2.40 marathoner who despite having not trained particularly well due to injury went out in 16.50 for the first 5k! I was very concerned at this point and having gone through the half in 1.16 he eventually finished in 2.58 by which point he must have been practically walking.

All the excitement really got my taste buds flowing to get my second marathon under my belt. So I'm considering various options at the moment. A leading contender is Chicago although I might already be too late (?) and it would also mean doing my training through the horrible summer here. We'll see

So I went out and hit the track again tonight. After a 2 mile warm up I did a similar version of Tusca's '10 day out' workout, hoping that the benefits of this get the chance to kick in by Saturday. 5*800/400 with 200m jog (1.00) after the 800 and 400m jog (2.00) after the 400. Goal was to hit 2.30/70 throughout. Didn't quite make that but a solid, tough workout nonetheless-

1: 2:33/70
2: 2:32/71
3: 2:30/72
4: 2:30/70
5: 2:30/72

Tomorrow will be my first planned rest day in months so i feel I'm getting there at last. My right calf was a little bit sore after but putting the Stick to good use should sort that out.

Also got some new shoes today (Saucony Grid Sinister), my new headphones came in the mail and so did my new Garmin. So i'm happy but broke and ironically when I want to go out and test all three as soon as possible I'm not actually going to be running until Thursday!

Pounding

Got my run in for the day before work, indeed what will be my longest and hardest effort of the week. 12 miles in 1.18.47. Felt fine, although my legs always feel like they take such a pounding on this route into work. Nothing now until track workout after work tomorrow. Thinking of doing Tusca's 5*800/400 that he nailed last week.

Keeping my eye on a few friends at Boston this morning....

Deena Master

Quality performance from Deena today, although to be fair it would have been like Paula Radcliffe running in a trial against her fellow countrywomen such is the difference in class between her and everyone else. Which made it all the more baffling to me why noone else had a similar game plan to Lewy Boulet. You know you are not going to beat Deena so go out and aim for sub 2.30 and see where that gets you. There must have been more girls in that race capable of that time on that course and in those conditions. Chance of a lifetime to qualify for the Olympics and I bet there are a few women saying "If only" tonight.

GREAT performance by Charlotte resident Megan Hepp in coming 12th in 2.37 (previous pr 2.45). Looking at the results it seems she was the 4th non sponsored athlete home and beat a bunch of girls who do get funding, etc.

My own run today was 8 miles at lunch time. Perfect weather, 70s, sunny with a cool breeze, first run of the year where I headed out shirtless. Felt great considering the race yesterday and I clicked along at 6.20 pace without really noticing it. Going to take it easy this week so I can hopefully feel good going into next Saturday's 5k.

Tevez rescues United

My headline was going to be 'Four for four' but amazing drama at Ewood Park relegated my victory to the inside pages. United almost threw away their lead at the top of the Premiership but a late late header from Carlos Tevez meant that hopefully the title is almost sewn up, with the big game to come at Chelsea next week. I was able to catch the game on FSC and my celebrations freaked out the kids a bit I think. And Emily calls goals 'touchdowns', I've got to sort that out!

Anyway back to the running and I did win this morning, but it was a close run thing! Woke up feeling better than expected and after a warm up of checking the course out felt pretty confident. The funny thing about the warm up was that the course takes in a crossing of railway tracks. I literally had to wait five minutes while the longest goods train in the world went past. I was hoping at that point that there weren't going to be any trains during the race!

Checked out the competition on the start line and last year's winner was there, plus my mate Cody, looking sleek in his calf sleeves, who prior to this race boasted a pr in the high 16s. Last year's winner took it out and I just settled into a rhythm with Cody on my shoulder. We reached the mile mark in about 5.05. The first mile was pretty much downhill so this felt about right. Cody and I took up the running at this point and the middle mile wound in and out of a pretty dodgy neighbourhood before heading back towards the main street. Mile 2 took about 5.17. I was in the lead with Cody settled in nicely behind me. To be fair I was expecting him to crack as he had never run this fast before but I couldn't shake him. In fact with about half a mile to go I let him take the lead just to check out how he was doing and he seemed very comfortable. I was now a bit worried! However, the last half mile was pretty much uphill and Cody dropped back a bit and I won in 16.16. Subsesquently discovered that the course was 3.18 miles so may actually have been faster than last week and even a sub 16??

Whatever I was pretty happy with the race. I'm hoping a pretty easy week will leave me feeling ready for a fast race next Saturday when the Grand Prix resumes and the big boys running low 15s will be back. I think I can safely say I won't be five for five, but a sub 16 is definitely doable

Tired

I'm officially tired. Ran a leisurely 6.8 this morning and although legs seem to have got a bit of snap back in them I still felt pretty tired. I don't know if it's the travelling and time differences catching up with me or allergies or what, but I just don't feel 100% at the moment. That being said, I did knock a good workout out the other night and I could wake up tomorrow feeling great for my race so we'll see.

Another point to note is that in the past five weeks I have run every day apart from that Sunday when I was ill. That's quite a change for someone used to taking a day off every 10 days or so, especially as there have been a smattering of doubles thrown in there too. Next week I'm definitely going to cut back a bit. I've even planned a day off- haven't had that luxury available in months!!

So tomorrow it is the 'Run for the money' 5k. This worthy event sees participants trying to raise money for their chosen 'Not for Profit' organization by placing as high as possible in the race. The overall winner gets $1,000. I will be trying to raise money for Catawba Lands Conservancy of which a friend is the Technology Director. This brings unusual pressures as based on last year's winning time of 16.40 I am expected to win, so if I don't it won't just be myself who I feel I am letting down! Couple this with the fact that I have never run this race before, have no idea what the course is like and have no idea what the competition will be and it makes for an interesting race! I'll update you all tomorrow!

Painful

Oooh, this morning was a struggle. Legs felt trashed from last night's workout. Managed 9 miles at Mcalpine Creek at 7.20 pace but only because I was running with Tim! Another easy run planned tomorrow so hopefully I'll have some spring back in the step by Saturday. Due for a bit of a cutback week methinks next week, with a very competitive 5k at the end of it

Solid workout at last

Things appear to be coming around at last. This will be my third week in a row of mileage in the high 50s and I'm starting to see the effects. Did a workout at the track tonight. 6*800 with 90 second recovery in 2.25/22/27/25/26/26. Plus 4 miles at lunch time and 4.58 miles warm up/down. Although I was straining a bit on the last couple of intervals, it was nice to get a decent workout logged at last!

Also did a bit of gadget shopping today. Gave up my Garmin as a lost cause and ordered a new one from Amazon. You can get the 'old' version pretty cheap now but still annoyed that I had to spend money unnecessarily! Also ordered some 'sport' headphones (Sennheiser) so I can listen to the ipod on the trails when the mood takes and a pair of calf sleeves. They seem to be the 'in product' for competitive runners around here and with my history of calf issues will hopefully be money well spent!

Quick post script on the London Marathon. It served to underline how far behind UK distance running is falling. The lead guy Dan Robinson put in a solid performance but when our best runner is talking about the leaders running 'freakish' times that he can't believe they are able to run it's a bit sad... Still at least we've got Paula!

Back in town

So here I am at work finding another method of not starting to work through the million emails I received while away. Got back yesterday after a great trip where we packed as much as we could into the ten days we were there. Only down side was that I managed to lose my stupid Garmin while I was there. I am sure I must have left it in our rental car but no sign of it yet- looks like the guy who detailed our car may have walked off with it!

Quick update on what happened on the rest of our trip. Saturday I headed out for another 6 mile run at Reigate Priory Park. Legs felt great for this one and I was feeling good heading into my 5k race on Sunday. Then on to the wedding to see Tom, one of my best friends, join the married club. It was a great day and a great party in the evening. A constant supply of a very good Shiraz and a superb variety of food on offer made for a very pleasant evening!

Woke up Sunday morning not actually feeling too bad having made sure that I drank gallons of water before crashing out. The fact that I ate so much during the evening also helped a lot. watched a bit of the London Marathon- great run from Hall!- before heading to my 5k race in the afternoon.

The race was at Dorsey lake, near Windsor, the venue for the 2012 Olympic rowing events. Very impressive facility and perfect for running a flat race! The 5k course literally took you from one end of the lake to the other and then back again. For some reason they didn't run the race around the lake so twice during the race you had to do a 360 degree turn back on yourself which in the slippery conditions underfoot was a right pain! Weather was blustery and wet, with the wind actually helping you the second half of the race.

My goal was just to try and run a solid race and I thought I was in about 16.30 shape at best. A new goal I set myself for the race during my warm up was to try and keep the previous night's excesses from re-emerging. My stomach really didn't feel too great!

So we started off and I found myself at the front immediately, alongside 1 guy with 3 others tucked in behind us. I passed through the first k in 3.09. I knew I wouldn't be able to keep that pace up but was feeling pretty good nonetheless. 2nd k in 3.17 and the group was now down to three. As we approached the 3k mark one guy dropped back and the other started to pull away leaving me in no mans land. I did my best to reel the lead guy in but he was strong and I wasn't making much headway so i pretty much settled for second place at this point. However, the 5 and 10k were being run at exactly the same time and luckily for me the lead guy carried on when we went under the finish line- he was doing another lap for the 10k! So I won by default in 16.10 which was much faster than I thought I was able to run beforehand. My splits wer solid and altogether I was very happy with the race. It sets a good baseline for the rest of the spring although it has to be said that this will be the fastest course I get to run on by far!

Interestingly that makes it three wins out of the three races I have started in 2008! I will be looking to extend that run this weekend at the 'Run for the Money 5k'. It seems getting a few weeks of consistent mileage has got me back to this point, now I could really do with stepping up and getting some good workouts in to put some icing on the cake

We flew home yesterday and after a long day of travelling I managed to get in a half hour jog to stretch the legs out. then this morning I headed out and did my long run for the week. Covered 14 miles, 8 of them with Tim- it was great to have some company again. Plus the weather was great! Legs were definitely tired towards the end but this was the longest run I have done in a long time.

Best get to those emails I guess.....

Mud lark

As I hoped, a change of scene led to a much more enjoyable run this morning! My mate who we're now staying with lives near a nice hilly park so I did a couple of loops around there. It was very muddy and the hills were steep- great training country! My enthusiasm on my return with mud all over me was somewhat lost on my non running friends!

I can already tell I'm not going to be up to much in my 5k on Sunday though. There appears to be lots of catching up with old friends to be done in the next few days and inevitably that's going to involve plenty of booze. But I'm on holiday. will be back to sobriety and better eating next week!

took Emily to see her great grandparents this morning. What a couple! They've been married 54 years and have a signed congratulatory photo from the Queen on their mantlepiece!

Double days and going through the motions

One of the good things about staying at my parents is the opportunity to run whenever I want, so I have been getting some 'two a days' in. Yesterday was no exception. I ran a very easy 4 miles first thing, then we went to the zoo for the day and when we got back I ran a fartlek workout- 8*2 mins on/2 mins off then 4*1 mins. Not a bad workout, not great but I'll take it. No pace in the legs it seems at the moment, but the sharpness will come soon. I ran up and down this country road in the middle of nowhere. the slightly up sections were at about 5.20 pace, the slightly down returns at 5.05 (in my 'regular' trainers). My stomach was playing up after the over indulgence last night and a big lunch today but there are a few advantages of running in the middle of nowhere if you get what I mean.

5k on Sunday so rest of week will be chill and no more doubles!

The down side of running at my parents is that I have to run on my own every day and there is a distinct lack of different routes you can run! I have also been getting my morning runs in before the girls wake up so have been heading out at 6 am every morning. The combination of monotony, boredom and a bad night's sleep made today's run very much of the 'going through the motions' type. Didn't really feel like being out there, just got it done. We are moving on to the next stage of our travels today so at least tomorrow I will have some new routes to explore

So Joseph is heading to my adopted town this weekend for the Race Fest 10k. Good luck to him. Should be a good race. A good friend of mine puts the race on and his races are always very well organized, popular and good prizes, bands and food after! Shame I couldn't be there to meet Tuscaloosa in person!

Curry and ale

Two of the main things I miss about life here (yes I know you can get them both in the US but honestly it is not the same!) so got my fill of both today. Can't beat a Prawn Madras washed down with a few pints of 'Reverend James' Ale.

To justify my excess got two runs in today. 8 miles this morning run at a purposely slow 7.15 pace on purposely flat terrain (it's bloody hilly around here!). Then a pre curry and ale run this afternoon. Had arranged to meet Lisa for a rare 'date' but was running late so my original plan of an easy 4 became a mini tempo effort as I covered the first mile in 6.40 to get warmed up and then pushed the next three in 17.20. Felt pretty good and I think I'm over my 'tiredness' now. My training always comes on leaps and bounds when I'm on my hols!

Another DNS!

Didn't race in the end yesterday. Woke up after a rough night with Sophie not feeling very well. Went to the race but didn't even feel like warming up, just feeling really fatigued and light headed so went home and slept all day instead. Felt better today so got my long run in but my 'streak' has ended- oh well! ran 12.25 miles today at 6.45 pace. As usual with my recent runs the legs felt great but I was really tired at the end. I'm just constantly tired it seems at the moment when I do a long run or push the pace a little. I'm starting to get a bit concerned by this.

It's freezing cold here by the way! I saw my first proper snow in a long while yesterday (another reason the race wasn't too tempting!). I'd forgotten what the weather was like here, sunshine one minute, rain and snow the next! Really enjoying the trip though, nice to just forget work and such for a while. Emily went to her first ever football match on Saturday, to watch my Dad's team Wrexham against the mighty Macclesfield Town. She lost interest after about five minutes but my dad was so happy he was able to take her that it was worth it. Her photo and a 'Welcome to Emily from the USA' were shown on the electronic scoreboard at the game which was pretty cool.

Back on home turf

So here I am back in the town I grew up in. Arrived here safely yesterday after a sleepless flight with a 19 month old slept on me for 7 hours straight. Very uncomfortable, my butt cheeks still feel like I've been riding on a bike all day.

It's always nice to come back. The old town I grew up in seems exactly the same as it always does and the familiarity is weirdly comforting. It is strange how things don't seem to change here though. And the other thing I notice coming over from Charlotte now. How small everything is! The roads are so narrow, everything just seems crushed together!

Got a couple of little runs in already. Yesterday after I arrived I headed out just to stretch the legs. From leaving my parents house you are out in the beautiful countryside within a mile. Did an old route, 4.2 miles just to get the kinks out of my legs. Being deliriously tired from lack of sleep made the run feel somewhat surreal but I was glad to do it.

Then this morning did another easy run, 5.9 miles, taking it easy as have decided to hop into a local 10k tomorrow. Will be interesting to see what the local competition is like. Running is very much a minority sport here. Us runners are looked upon as being pretty weird. I was on the roads at 6 this morning and still managed to get one heckler with the old "Run, Forrest, run!" shout as I passed her house!

Legs are feeling pretty strong at the moment, seem to be adapting well to the new running every day routine

Rebound

Felt a lot better today. Ran into work which is a 12 mile hike along the sidewalks, crossing intersections and dodging traffic. Started off at 7.10 pace but had worked down to 6.05 pace by the end. I don't mind running this route too hard because I have done it many times and it always turns into a hard pace run. It's the only regular run I do where I take splits along the route so I can use it as a fitness gauge from time to time. Today the legs and lungs both felt good.

I ran to work as Lisa will be picking me up later and driving us to the airport. Fly back to the homeland today for our annual visit. Really looking forward to it, if not the overnight flight with the kids on our laps followed by the five hour drive (on the other side of the road) to my parents house the other side. Once we get there I am looking forward to a nice week of relaxation!

Dead horse

Went to the track last night and wussed out before I'd even done half of my planned workout! Earlier in the day had run a 4 mile easy 'shake out' run and had felt okay but after a 2 mile warm up I could tell 400 meters into my first 800 that it just wasn't happening. the planned workout was 2 800s at 5k pace, 2 mile tempo and then a 'fast' mile to finish off, but the two 800s were a real struggle and 800 meters into the tempo I called it quits.

Now there's a time and place for pushing through these feelings and getting the workout done but this wasn't one of them, there was no point in flogging the dead horse. I just felt really fatigued and weak, no zip in the legs. Didn't help that i'd been at work since 5.30 in the morning so that I could leave early for the workout plus i'm still shaking this cold off and am feeling weak generally but still it was a bit worrying!

Today was better, met up (early!) with some guys I hadn't run with in a while and it was good to talk shit for an hour while running the 7.20 pace that i should definitely run a lot more often! Got 11.3 in.