4 Weeks to Toral de los Vados (2005)
I didn't quite manage the 40 km but still very pleased with the 37 that I did today. Running through aldeas like Uxes wearing long compression socks certainly draws a few strange looks but at the end of the run my calves and achilles still felt strong (I'm a forefoot runner who also supinates), which goes to show that they do actually work. The run took me through Uxes as I said and Arteixo where I ran a 12km race a few weeks ago, back to La Coruña and then the usual 10 km on the promenade and harbour wall.
I woke up a little later than I had wanted this morning so didn't have too much time to spare before setting off. I knew I had forgotten something when I was half way up the road, but on checking I has money, Residents card, gels and drinks etc. It was only an hour and a half later that I realised that it was the loo paper that I had left behind. So squatting in the woods whilst trying to grab a few more leaves was a new, although not very pleasent experience, especially as most of the trees are either mediterranean or eucalypt varieties, neither having a particularly large or soft leaf.
The run itself was pretty good, and only became hard after 33 km as I expected it would, this despite there being some long hills. The legs held up well, in Toral last year my knees started to give me gip after 25, so things have improved, there was general fatigue at the end of the run but nothing else. Here I am now at 7.45 and the legs are only mildly stiff, nothing that a good night's rest and a couple of beers can't cure.
As an aside, before the half marathon in Betanzos, and yesterday aswell, I had performed a kind of mini carbo load. Both times I have bought a pack of Kellogs All Bran bars, I don't know if they are on sale in the UK, but I reckon they have served me well. 2.31 for a box of six bars, per 100 grams there's about 42 grams of carbohyrate, 11 of fat, 12 of protein and 16 of fibre. I'll be getting a couple of boxes in for the marathon, you never know some times in the supermarket these things turn up once, never to be seen again.
TAPER STARTS TOMORROW !!!
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