7th August 2007

7th August 2007

Shipley Park-MFN 9 Mile

Conditions: Sunny, Warm

Run Type: Easy

Notes: With my new found love for slow running through the flats of Shipley Park (SP), I opted for more of the same for today’s run. After Sundays eight mile my leg felt fine and I had no soreness or acute pain, however I was not going to get excited and start changing things again. I have now decided to commit all of August to pure endurance running and only if at the end of this period I feel like I am injury free will I start adding some half marathon pace miles into my training.
It was a warm summers evening so I was in very high spirits when I set out along the trim track, towards Ozzie’s for my warm up. Having completed the first mile and subsequent light stretching I was off again towards the Venture and then Ilkeston.
Having past through the Venture and spent a short time on the main road to Ilkeston, I turned off down Long Lane towards MFN and it was here that I was probably the happiest I have ever been during a training run. The sun was out but it wasn’t too warm, I was running with ease and I had the thought of Anastasiya in my head (a Russian girl I have met), and to top it all off ‘Eye of the Tiger’ came on my Ipod and I just opened my arms out like I was flying and smiled as I ran down the long decline towards MFN and the canal.
It wasn’t until mile four that I felt my first minor low point of this run but it soon passed and I really enjoyed the peaceful run along the canal towards Langley Mill. It was however in Langley Mill where I felt a pain in my knees that reminded me of the pain I got after the Worksop Half Marathon. Now this maybe down to my running shoes coming to the end of their life, so I will keep a close eye on both my knees and runners!
The run through Langley Mill was enjoyable in its own way as I like being in Public when running, and with my semi famous status from all the coverage of my marathons in the paper it made this part of the run enjoyable in case anybody saw me. I am however here for me not for people to see me, it is just nice when people come up to me and say they saw me out running, and can see how hard I train.
As the course leads off the main road and up towards HLC I was greeted by the first and only major hill of this course and I approached it with the mentality that I would run it very slow, but I would not stop! Once at the top my hear rate had reached 90% but it soon settled down once I was running along Heanor Road.
As I approached Marlpool and the final two miles the pain in my knees was getting worse and they felt really tight. I wanted to stop to stretch but I had come 7 miles without stopping so I sure as hell was not going to stop now. I pushed through and focused on my form for the final two miles. I upped the pace slightly for the final half mile but did not try anything suicidal. I remember at the end of the run that my legs felt a little tired and I did not know why. It turns out that my pacing was slightly too quick, however on the whole this was a very successful run which I thoroughly enjoyed. I just hope that the pain in my knees leads to nothing. Tomorrow I have a short recovery run planned, which I will use to asses both my hamstring and my knees. Either way, next payday I will be investing in some new shoes!

Run time: 1:25:25

Pace: 9:30 / mile

Days to New York Marathon: 88



"A lot of people run a race to see who's the fastest. I run to see who has the most guts."