Sheffield and Brussels

I've been desperately trying to find the time to run and start to increase my miles as I attempt to get in condition. London is on the 17th April and as yet I am still doing weekly mileage of about 25 miles. Have I got enough time to get fit enough?? The race is in 9 weeks a 2 hr 49 min marathon seems a long way off at the moment. On the positive I am feeling stronger with each run and the injuries seem under control. I am even being distnctly less lazy because I'm stretching, warming up and even done a few drills focusing on technique!

Since my first post running has continued to be squeezed in around other activities, this has meant that I've run in Brussels. I was there for a couple of days with work and got in a quick 6.5 miles one evening. It was a real treat to run somewhere flat. I headed off from the hotel in a random direction and found myself in a park with lots of runners. I smiled at each of them on each circuit as I came across them but all averted their gaze a few women looked genuinely scared. I guess in a large city there is no runners code of shared identity and common interest. I wouldn't dream of running past someone here without acknowledgeing them, but I suppose I don't meet many so it's always a pleasant surprise.  People in cities do tend to have a well practised ability to ignore strangers, I suppose it comes from being cornered by drunks and social misfits. I hope I don't fall into either category.

I also squeezed in a run when I volunteered to take my daughter's schools cross country team for a run last saturday. I felt like Brian Glover from Kes ( which is not a good thing) because I ran to meet them at Aira Force and took them over the fell before returning them to their parents in the car park and running back home. I couldn't help but suspect that the parents thought I must be a bit mad.

This weekend we took the juniors from the running club to Sheffield for the Indoor Athletics, what a great event that was. It was watching the athletes warming up and stretching and looking so damn lithe and athletic that has inspired me to do some stretching and drills. If a 20 something super athlete needs to do that much in a pre race routine then I a 41 year old can just bloody well sort himself out and do some as well.

At least I've done some proper runs in the last few days 13 1/2 on sunday over the Dodds, in some pretty shitty weather and 8 1/2 tonight which I did pretty fast, when I could see, the batteries on the head torch failed about half way through and I kind of stumbled the way home from there. I am determined to get a good week in this week, 35 miles +. 

Maybe I will get around to speed work in a couple of weeks.