I’m not dead yet

A favourite moment from Spamalot and I still have the t shirt proclaiming the fact that I am not dead yet

My last post was a bit of a whine about how tired I was feeling. Eventually I gave in and missed a few workouts and feel better for it. Work has been a bit crazy as well which always squeezes the available space in your head for running.

I ended up with two drop back weeks instead of one which annoys me because of the missed mileage but wont do me any harm in the long run.

Included in my two week drop back were a couple of stints doing pay back duties. I spent a long day marshalling at the Loch Katrine marathon in horrible wintry conditions, but it was worth it to be able to cheer on the hardy runners.

I then did a stint supporting Helen as she ran the D33 in Aberdeen. This is a great race run by RD George in his own inimitable style and Helen had a super run in appalling conditions. I had a good day out driving between checkpoints and popping up in various places along the route. Good fun and the favour wil be returned in spades when Helen takes on the role of support crew and She Who Must Be Obeyed when I run the West Highland Way later in June.

We also attended the West Highland Way inspiration evening which was held in Cathcart Church in Glasgow last week. Lots of good advice was passed on. Useful tips for support crews, some interesting and scary medical advice and some training tips from folks who have been there, done that and got the famed Goblet. It was amazing to learn that Rosie Bell who has won the  race, only runs twice a week. It was also good to hear from Dr Chris Ellis the race doctor. Apart from describing some of the nasties that can happen to you while ultra running – everything from compartment syndrome, liver failure and death – he seemed really sensible. I was reassured by his common sense approach to things like fluid intake and weight loss. I had been a bit worried about the weigh ins. Quite apart from the scales groaning when I stand on them, I am a heavy sweater and can easily lose 7 or 8 pounds on a hard run, so was worried about keeping my weight within tolerable ranges during the race. The last thing I wanted was to get pulled from the race because I had lost too much. Obviously the weigh-ins are necessary to look out for health issues, but I was reassured by his approach that if you are well, you won’t get pulled regardless of your weight. I hope I don’t need his services when I stumble into Kinlochleven in the middle of the night, but if I do, I think I will be in good hands.

As if the stress of thinking about the West Highland Way race isn’t enough it is now less than four weeks until the Boston Marathon and the nerves are starting to jangle as I consume every piece of information I can find. [youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z4TT5T5Ux8U]

Training is in quite a good place, but there is always that nagging feeling that you haven’t done enough.  This past weekend was the Alloa Half marathon. Our friend James came up from England to run the race and he sailed round looking very comfortable. I managed to stay within 15 seconds of him as I ran a new PB of 1:26:55 which was great because my previous PB had been one of those way out times which I thought I would really struggle to get close to again. As good as my PB was, it was still only the second best performance of the weekend in this house. The Best performance award goes to Helenwho ran the Alloa Half marathon the day after her mega efforts in the D33 race.

Having had a good race I am feeling quite strong and looking forward to my last long runs before I go into the taper for Boston and the Highland Fling. So, still a bit tired but as they say in Spamalot, I’m not dead yet!