Tuesday 18 January 2011

Getting better gradually

I've been taking it very easy and not running much, to try to allow my lungs get properly better from that annoying chest infection, which really left me feeling knackered for weeks. Fingers crossed and all that, but it seems to be working.

The 100 Marathon Club AGM marathon was a great social event. I knew nearly everyone there. It's a handicap race (we each started at the-average-time-of-our-last-5-road-marathons before 2:30pm) run on a 5 lap course in Bromley. I started at 10:21 and saw plenty of others out on the course, either lapping, being lapped, or crossing over on a section of road that we did in both directions on each lap. John Wallace (AKA Superman) won the handicap race by finishing far quicker than his handicap suggested he should have. A great result. It was one of those crisp fresh but sunny days and even though I was deliberately walking a lot to take it easy, I thoroughly enjoyed it.On Saturday I did the Country to Capital ultra for the third time. This was my first ever ultra a couple of years ago and remains one of my favourites. The first half is cross country and can be tricky to find the correct route. It's pretty hilly and muddy and there's lots of running through fields and streams - the sort of terrain that really makes you feel alive. It wasn't very cold, making conditions most pleasant. The second half follows the Grand Union canal so the intense navigation ends and one can just relax (and dream of covering this ground again in May as part of the GUCR). I went nice and slowly and walked a lot on the canal section. A very gentle jaunt, which somehow made me over 40 minutes quicker than in the previous two years. Odd, but I'm not complaining. Top organisation as usual by the brilliant folks at Go Beyond.
I was unusually tired that evening, but seem to have recovered well enough now. I hope so, as there's a 45 miler on both Saturday and Sunday this weekend...

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