Hard Slog

Run: 22K in 2:11. Three breaks, felt awful.

It can't all be comfortable runs and big PBs. Some runs are ugly and uncomfortable. In the last few months, I've had more than my share of the former. Today it was very much the latter.

I woke with no cough and walked the dogs, taking it easy. I didn't get out until 9:00, normally I'd be out a lot earlier and I was to remember why at the 15K mark.

The run atarted with two laps of the tri club 10K loop. The first lap was comfortable, but I did have to pop behind the bushes to relieve myself at about the five K mark. This started a pattern, as at the same point on lap two I had to stop at the same bushes for, well, number two. This is why I must run earlier.

By 15K I had started to feel a bit ordinary, and I was glad of the break, but when I got back into it my HR shot back up into the 150s very quickly. Now, as I have mentioned before, the 10K loop has a few hills in the back end, and I struggled badly over these hills, particularly the climb back into Windsor. Normally this climb would signal the end of a run, but on todays' route I still had two K to go and I didn't want to do it. I was feeling bloody rough by 20K and I even had a bit of retching, and although I considered packing it in, I kept going. The last 2K was a hilly little bastard, so when I got into the George St mall Craft markets and saw an old workmate there was much relief as I stopped to quickly say g'day. A minute or two of smalltalk later I was on my way and struggled through to 22K.

I had stopped the watch for the second break, but I kept it going during the other two stoppages and at the end of the run it read 2:11:07. So the run was probably a bit slower than last week and not nearly as comfortable. If I feel like this on the Gold Coast I will be lucky to break 2 hours. I guess it comes down to how you feel on the day. I'll file the run under character building.

Now I'm going to go and lay down.