Reading Half Marathon - March 6th 2005

[El Gordo]

Hi guys

I'll give this some thought. I need to try to gather together a lot of variables and come up with a plan.

The variables/complexities include
- different finishing times
- the finish in the Madejski stadium which will be more crowded than the Almeria finish
- far more runners/spectators, making it harder to see people
- start and finish are not very near each other, making it tricky to decide on best parking place
- no pubs very close to the finish
- the, er, personal hygiene issue

The sort of thing I have in mind is to think of a pub to meet up in afterwards, even if this is a bit away from the finish, then take it from there.

My weekend running plans are also a bit awry, Sweder. The original plan was for 20 miles Saturday but then various domestic commitments started to get in the way, so I thought I'd shift it to Sunday (today). I did a few hours of hard digging in the garden yesterday, and at dusk suddenly felt like a quick run, and ended up doing a very brisk 7 miles followed by a few pints of excellent ale in the pub next door.

All this adds up to not great preparation for a long run today, especially as I've more digging to do first, before collecting and laying 20 large paving slabs in the garden.

Hmm. At least I can regard the work as a form of cross training. Seriously, why not? I feel like I had a great workout yesterday. I'm going to do this work, then go out for a slow plod later and see where it takes me, though 20 miles is out of the question. I'm not going to get upset about it. I haven't had a step-back week since the start of the training, and as I say, I've been doing a lot of physical stuff so it's not like I've been lazy.

Anyway, this is all supposed to make you feel a bit better. If your hamstring is still a bit sore I wouldn't worry about not doing the Richmnd Park thing.

It makes me feel better too....