I have another 3 half marathon distance training runs to add to my training log, from when I was in the UK a few days back. The first was around Bracknell forest, with my friend Pritesh accompanying me on his bike. That was pretty nice as there were plenty of trails to run on and lots of squelchy mud and soft pine needles. The second was along the banks of the river Wye in Monmouth to the Biblins bridge and back, as night was beginning to fall. On the return leg from the Biblins bridge I was rushing to get back while there was still enough light to see where I was treading, as there are no street lights along that part of the river. It helped to spur me on when I saw an eight person rowing boat and decided to try and race it back to Monmouth. In the end the boat won but I blame that on the large numbers of gates and stiles that held up my progress. It was fun to run in the woods as night was falling, although a little eery too. Then the final one is around the Streatham area of London, near to where my sister lives. That involved doing a couple of big loops of Tooting Bec common and a few side excursions on top. Some was pavement but a lot of the route was on muddy paths, yum yum. It takes me around 2 hours and 5 minutes to run a nice easy half marathon, keeping my heart rate nice and low.
Now though it is time to get REALLY serious. My plan is to do five 20 mile runs within the space of one week. I will have to listen to my body really carefully and take note if it feels like too much, but if I can do it then I will. The idea would be two 20 mile runs then a rest day then two more 20 mile runs then a rest day, and then a final 20 mile run followed by a rest day.
Oh yes and I will also be starting hot yoga next week too. I find the idea of doing yoga in a pair of swimming trunks rather strange, but I will just have to wait and see how it feels when I get there.
The final part of my plan next week is to start buying more and more kit for the MDS. I have got on well with my PT03 winter shoes from UK gear, so I think I will go ahead and order the PT03 desert shoes. I just need to decide what size I want to order them in, as whilst my usual size is 42, you are meant to order them bigger for the MDS as your feet swell a lot in the heat. If anyone can offer me advise on this last subject I would be grateful (Sarah-Jayne perhaps).
