Tues 6 Aug 2002

Rushed home from work to get changed and out the door so that I could get back in time to see Paula Radcliffe in the European Championships 10K. Unfortunately I got waylaid by my neighbour on the way out, who needed to know why we had a half ton of horse manure sitting in our front garden. It's a reasonable question.

The run wasn't quite as good as Paula's, but pretty good by my standards. 4 miles around the lanes on a warm Summer's evening. Is there anything better? Well, yes, there is. Quite a lot of things, if the truth be told. I spent much of the run fantasising about an extended Italian banquet on some sunny terrace somewhere in the Mediterranean. A glass or two of Louis Roederer as an aperitif; a bottle of mature Barolo with the main course, and a decanter of decent port with the cheese. Felt pleasantly tipsy by the time I got home.

Paula Radcliffe'a run was wonderful. I'll be up against her in Chicago this year of course. I'm quietly confident about the outcome. It's true that last time we met, in the London Marathon, there was a margin of 3 hours 38 minutes between us, but I've improved since then, and she must be getting a bit knackered. I think she'll be a little complacent about me as she runs a thoughtful finger down the list of entrants. And this is where I hope to capitalise. Over-confidence can be a very humbling thing. Oh yes. Khannouchi may be just beyond me, I don't know. If I'm going to have any chance of winning the Chicago Marathon, I have to be realistic...

Wed 7 Aug 2002

Deciding against a run because of injury is one thing, but sleepiness? Afraid so. My eyelids felt like they were tied to dustbin lids this afternoon. A long meeting didn't help. Result? I was just too darned tired to do my 7 miles tonight.

This is a constant problem with the Chicago training. Throughout the London campaign I worked from home, and could get away with an 8.30am alarm. But these days I've already been up 2 hours by then, so I suppose I should be tucked up by 10.30pm each night. But I'm rarely in that carefree state before midnight, and it's often later.

I plan on shifting my 7 miler (the long midweek run) to tomorrow instead. The 4 miles I should be doing tomorrow will then either get pushed back to Friday, or incorporated into the weekend long run. The added difficulty is that I've a friend comming to stay on Friday evening so I can't run then, meaning I'd have to make up this one in the morning, before work. Erk. Not ideal. My long weekend run is scheduled to be only 10 miles as it's a 'stepback week', though I'd already considered making this 15 miles, in effect swapping it for next weekend's long run, when I thought I'd have a go at the Burnham Beeches Half Marathon. Is this getting complicated? Aw, forget it. I'll go with the flow.

Thurs 8 Aug 2002

A great run this evening. A classic, perfect example of my often-mentioned adage that the pleasure of a run tends to be in inverse proportion to the level of expectation. I really did not want to run this evening. It was raining heavily, and already beginning to get dark. Grudgingly, I decided to run 3 miles, and see how I felt then. But as I got to the 3 mile mark, I realised that I was enjoying myself, and carried on.

It was one of those runs when I felt myself really bounding along at times. It was also by far the most hazardous run I've done certainly since I've lived here, and perhaps ever. By the time I got onto the second circuit, it was pitch black and teeming. The roads I run on have no pavements, and are busy. The cars coming towards me had their headlights on full-beam, blinding me further (the rain and the sweat were doing a pretty good job of it already thanks).

Pace was 9:49 a mile which, over 7.5 miles, was really good for me. Hurrah!

Sun 11 Aug 2002

Terrible 'long run'. What was intended to be (cough, cough) 15 miles turned out to be... oh, about 2 miles, before I gave up and wandered home. Too much beer on Friday, too much excitement at the legendary home of Queen Park Rangers yesterday, too much breakfast and too many gardening chores today, but most of all, too many excuses. Let's forget this and start over again. Again!

Next week >