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April Bloody April, Nothing Rhymes With April.
After a not-so-brilliant week of short, stuttering, abortive runs I bit the bullet and went for a long slowie this (Saturday) morning. In theory, given my cycling, walking and occasional run of late, I figured I should have enough aerobic fitness for another half marathon, so I plotted myself a cunning plan; dosed myself with ibuprofen and headed for the treadmill armed with a bottle of coloured salty water (why it costs so much is beyond me - in the old days long distance runners used sea water mixed with brown sugar, which is essentially the same thing) and grim determination and Elton John's 60th birthday bash on the idiot box to take my mind off runny-type things.
The plan was very simple - jog slowly, take a 1 minute walk break every quarter hour and see if I couldn't manage another half marathon distance; and never mind the time.
Well all was fine for the first 90 minutes, then it started getting a bit tricky but I pounded away at the treadmill as the older, heavier, hatless, and largely hairless Elton likewise pounded away at the piano. At two hours I stopped for a banana and to refill the dirty seawater bottle. At 2:04:26 I reflected that last September our mate Haile Gebrselassie had completed the Berlin marathon in exactly that time to reclaim the world record. I was nowhere near even half that distance, but at least I was still running, and at 2h15 I knew a distance PB was now assured, and as the half marathon and then the 21.4km marks went past (21.4 is the distance of the Point to Pinnacle race) I unashamedly threw my arms in the air as I visualised the finish of both events and then plodded on to a 22km PB where I finally stopped, once again a happy and contented runner.
This may not seem such a great achievement in such illustrious company as the RC League of Champions, but - as Bono often likes to say - I'm taking it. It certainly opens the door to a whole new range of possibilities. But first I'll wait and see how my knee responds over the next couple of days. If it's manageable (and I suspect it will be) all things will then be possible.
However, I'm still very slow. And it's the speed work which really kills the knees, so it's still softly softly for a bit. But at least I know the distance isn't an issue.
Track du jour - Elton's Rocket Man, for being nicely ironic.
Time for a beer... cheers.
MLC Man.
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April Bloody April, Nothing Rhymes With April.
