RE: 2013 Part Deux
3 weeks to the Henley half
Wednesday - the weekly grocery shopping list prevented a lunchtime run, and the days were slipping by, so I set the alarm early, drove to work in my running kit and jogged down to the park in Bracknell for an early morning interval session. Sluggish would be the best word. Miles banked, but short on both quality and joy.
Friday - with another busy weekend beckoning (a 60th birthday followed by a 70th - cue lots of stodgy food and champagne) there was only a limited window to get my tempo run in. The rain was lashing down outside and there were DVDs to be watched... but there was only one thing for it. Out the door, into the rain and take my long-suffering road shoes down to that muddy field. It was a belter of a run - 6 miles in my favourite conditions. By halfway, my technical top could wick no more, and was plastered to me. The rain curtain began to close, and visibility dropped more and more. Offroad laps complete, I returned to the streets to head for home through yellow-lit puddles and rivers running down the road's edge. Lovely stuff.
Soundtrack was a full play through of Iron Maiden's 7th Son of a 7th Son, which was just perfect. From the opening 1:24 of Moonchild as I set off down the road, through a sinister backdrop to sprinting round a dark field in the pouring rain, to the galloping finale of The Evil that Men Do, it was hard to imagine a better accompaniment.
Tuesday - time for a long one. 6 nocturnal laps round the field for a total of 10 miles. A much more civilized night than my previous outing - calm and mild. At 1:54 half mara pace it was a bit slower than I hope to run in three weeks, but good miles in the bank.
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