Wednesday 16 April 2014

Fresh legs

On Monday & Wednesday morning I went out for a run just to keep my legs ticking over.  Both were about an hour long which seems a very short distance now, almost a warm up.  It's funny how you condition your mind to 3 hour runs as being the norm and when you cut back it seems so easy.  But I mustn't forget that in 9 days time after I've completed an hours run, I'll probably have another 12 hours to go!  Now that's a mind blower if I don't handle it properly.  This elephant will certainly be eaten in small slices.
My priority at the moment it to stay injury free and allow my body to recover while continuing light training.  But I am also in planning mode.  What will I be wearing on the day and what extra clothing will I be carrying?  I will want to keep this to essentials only.  I need to plan my race strategy, which if experience is anything to go by will be blown out the water by something happening - but you need a plan in the first place.  Plan B will depend on what went wrong with Plan A. 
Then there are the feed stations and what goodies I will have in my drop bags.  Because I will be drinking High 5 (sweet calorie drink) and munching gels when I have to along with jelly babies, my drop bags will have savoury treats in them mini pork pies!  They are great for calories.  I'll have nuts and raisins and bananas as well.
I don't intend spending much time at the feed stations unless necessary e.g. treating blisters or just trying to "man up".  Eating on the move will make a big difference to your eventual time.
This is an exciting stage in the run up to the race as it plays in your head every night before you crash out.  I'm so please I fitted in this early season event as it has got me focused and soon after the event I will be switching the training back to triathlon for my 70.3 Ironman 2 months later.