Getting the miles in.
It’s all there to be read… endless advice on the interweb… don’t increase too quickly… give your body time to adjust…make sure you have a few pairs of running shoes so you can alternate to make increasingly mileage easier on your legs. EH?
Bugger that… strap on ya boots and head out the door is my philosophy. After weeks of winter days and shorter runs the time has come to start re-building the distance. Nothing less than 10 miles at the weekend is my simple plan.
Someone who is being very elusive at the moment when it comes to running suggested a few weeks back that we might run the Moyleman this autumn but in reverse. Don’t ask me why he wants to do it in reverse (or run it at all to be honest)… I cannot reason with a demented mind.
Anyway, in the spirit of doing things in reverse, I thought I would run up onto Kingston Ridge to join the Moyleman at mile eight and then run backwards, as it were, to Blackcap and Lewes beyond.
The result? I can report what I had always known… it’s a bastard in reserve. I like steep uphill sections – a lot of effort but rapid upwards progression. I don’t care for long protracted inclines that go on mile after mile... which is the inverse Moyleman. On a positive note however, I got to run DOWN the Relentless Bastard for a very pleasant change.
It was good to be out there stretching the legs. My short distance running is improving – much helped by Herd Running exploits. Anything around 6 to 7 miles is now at least a minute a mile quicker than it was last autumn… but the legs have lost the stamina required to punch out anything over 10 miles – particularly 10 miles in these hills.
The aim today was just to get around the route – miles bagged, rather than speed. Of course I blew it over the first few miles which made the second half somewhat challenging. Still I came home with 11 miles in the bag, 400 metres of elevation gained and a pace that’s not too shabby, all things considering.
It was great to be out there pounding the miles again.
