12km banked in good style this afternoon. Finished fast and strong and could quite happily have gone on for another half hour or so, but thought it best to stick to my schedule. Actually the run didn't start out too well to be honest. The local supermarket had a special on PowerBars, and I had bought one out of curiosity, and ate it as per the wrapper instructions, about 30 minutes before my run. 20 minutes later I discovered the secret of PowerBar's amazing performance enhancement - they are quite simply the most powerful and effective laxative I have ever enountered! Had I been able to time my sprint for the requisite amenities, I'm sure it would have registered a massive PB.
So it was with some trepidation that I moved from the throne to the treadmill, uncertain of what might be awaiting. Pleased to say that the PowerBar "performance" was all over in one decisive event, and the run proceeded without interruption.
I started out listening to
Phidippidations as recommended by Andy, but sadly, his knowledgable and pragmatic dissertations on the subject of runner's knee just brought out the hypochondriac in me and my knees and shins started aching horribly! I switched to music and the pain obligingly vanished, the pace picked up and I finished an utterly brilliant run - easily the best in a very, very long time.
Fittingly, for the first time since Andy mentioned it, the FLM theme music popped up in my mp3-thing, and wow, what great stuff! Having that playing whilst completing the final stages of any major race would be fantastic. Great stuff indeed.
In other news, I have finished reading Julie Welch's
26.2. I quite liked this book, but it see-sawed between emotions: at times it made me want to enthusiastically head out for a brisk 20, at other times it irritated me. Some of her profiled "runners" were rather annoying characters, although this was undoubtedly the point of the book, i.e. that all kinds of people run marathons, but to be honest, some of the efforts of the people she profiles left me cold. I guess we find inspiration in different places, and this book is a bit of grab bag of fortune and emotion. Worth a look, but. I doubt I'll read it again however, so if anyone wants my copy, just pop on over and claim it.
Anyway, I've started thinking about goals again. Sometimes, especially after a good run like today's, I think/believe/hope/am utterly convinced that I still have a marathon in me somewhere. But then I look at my past running logs and realise I'm a bloody long way from realistically being able to definitely begin a 42km campaign. But the positive spin on it is that I'm now seven weeks into my new training program, and it's all going very well. But that's because I've been ultra-cautious; running slow, taking walk breaks, and very gradually building up a base mileage, which still stands at a humble 25km or so per week. Never-the-less, this is rapidly becoming one of my best running months for a very, very long time, so there is definitely scope for optimism.
One thing
Phidippidations did convince me to do however, is book some more time with my physio and podiatrist, and get some more advice/torture programs with a view to injury prevention. I've come this far, I'll be buggered if I'll let it slip away again.
There were other things, but they can wait until next time.
March maundering.
