Monday, 5th April – 20 days to go

Up early for the final long run of marathon preparation. Quick cuppa and then have a portion of veg curry and rice. Not sure of the wisdom of this, but I was just doing a sweep of leftovers in the fridge and fancied it.

The plan is to meet Michael at Armley Mills car park at 10.00 and then do an out and back twenty two miles on the canal at 8:45 pace with some 8:00's towards the end – 3:10 to 3:15 target time.

It’s a miserable, grey start to the day but no rain during the run, which turns out to be pretty close to what we set out to do. Tom’s training partner storms past us on the way out of Leeds and then comes back with no discernable slowing in pace. Not bad considering his top ten finish in the Guiseley Gallop the day before. Within a couple of miles I realise I’ve made a poor choice of shoe. I was expecting the canal towpath to be mostly soft and muddy. While there’s plenty of both of those, it’s also very hard and uneven and I can feel more of the ground under my feet than I would like. Perhaps it’s time to ditch my old trail shoes as I suspect the cushioning has now gone.

First ten miles are reasonably comfortable, but I’m looking for mile eleven turn round almost as soon as we’re through mile ten. Turn round at 1:39:00 and head back towards Leeds. Although it’s slightly downhill and the wind is no longer in our faces, the return leg is a lot harder. It’s no longer grey as the sun pokes through from time to time and this has brought out the ramblers, bikers and dog walkers so it’s a bit more crowded on the towpath as well. Tell myself that swerving round them will be good practice for London.

We make it back in 1:36:07 for a negative split. I’ve made no improvements in my judgement of pacing as I thought we’d come back slower. Thanks to Michael for the company, the stories and for choosing the route, bringing his Garmin and leading the way. The last few miles were painful – abs and adductors. On the plus side I never felt wanting with the breathing. All the usual niggly bits performed ok.

Followed the run with a stretching and massage session at Tony’s while Liz did a brutal core and upper body workout. Level 3 massage with left adductor a lot tighter than the right. Tony has promised to “get the thumbs in” and “go deeper” on Friday, so I’m going to have to do a lot of stretching in between to make it bearable.

How early is an adult allowed to go to bed? Decide that double figures is a target but may not make it past nine. Earlier I had a choice of football or cricket on telly to fall asleep in front of while ligging out on the sofa. Managed to nod off whilst not watching either.

Let tapering begin. Thank heavens I’ve got through the hard work phase without injury. As for running beyond marathon distance Nikos, no way that is ever going to happen. I’m not ultra material and I know it.