Tapering Boredom

In accordance with tapering, I did nothing today, after my 8 yesterday. The thing was I did fancy a run this morning, but will just do some rollering before bed.
I will run 3 miles before work tomorrow, and do some turbo-ing on Friday, and maybe just a little mile of so on Saturday, but not sure where I'll get the time. I have to work till one, and I want to get down to Edinburgh   before a reasonable hour.

I having major bottom half dilemmas.
I had bought some funky black and green cropped running tights especially for the day. They were a bit small when I got them, but now they fit, and are reasonably comfortable apart from a slight camel-toe situation, but have been fine on long runs.
My old and cheap tights are a bit crappy, but more comfortable. But not half a funky.
I'm tempted to wear the old ones.
And not look half as good. That was possibly the most boring paragraph I've ever written.

Major Rollering

I have some twinges.

I've had some twinges for a few days now, very mild sciatica.
I did 8 slow miles this morning, and it didn't really trouble me while I was running, but afterwards when I was  sitting down I felt a bit odd. The good thing was though, the 10k at the weekend was most unpleasant, it felt like hard work and was miserable. Trotting out 11 min miles today with lots of hills felt quite nice, really.

So, as I was off today I spent most of the afternoon stretching and rollering. And consuming vitamin C, as my daughter has a cold that I really don't want.

Tomorrow I have to go on the course. It's so utterly thrilling I can't actually remember what it's about. Something to do with people? Vulnerability? Confidentiality? Dunno.

Girl Crush!

The newest book by my girl-crush Selene Yeager has arrived.

It is, as the title suggests, all about getting fast.





I had to go out tonight so only read the introduction, but her enthusiasm is  infectious, as well as the way she really makes me think I can do this. Her confidence in me, the reader, is so solid I don't want to let her down. After next week, I will be doing everything she says. She has great triathlon as well as cycling skills.
I trust her. I'm excited!

Today I rested, had a lot of work today and pushed my legs quite hard yesterday, so they feel better for a hot bath and a bit of a walk. Tomorrow I will run. Slowly. Some marathon pace stuff. And I'll wear my number belt, daft as it may look, as I want to see how the gels fit (and hopefully not fall out)

How Much Do I Hate Baker Hughes?

Let me count the ways.

*It's always busy and hard to park and big queues for portaloos

*The route is a total snoozefest.

*It's always warmer than I want it to be.

*Most of all, I didn't get the time I wanted.

*Stupid people stopping all over the place. So much weaving in and out. My chip time will be quite long, I stopped by watch at 6.22 miles and had a little way to go.

*Couldn't find my buddy John. So many people. Although, did manage to bump into someone I didn't want to see (Chevy) how unfair is that!?


What really annoys me is I've always said if I get under the hour, I won't do it again. This was gonna be the year, but I was 15 seconds out, so I'll have to do ti again next year.
It was weird and muggy and humid, and I saw two people in bad shape being seen to by paramedics, one was sitting and trying to talk, the other was out cold. Not good.

So, I have a new challenge to get something positive out of this crapness.

This time next year, my 10k pace of today (9:41) will be my marathon pace.
And I'm reminding myself that the first year I did Baker Hughes I was a stone lighter than I am now, and was only 14 seconds faster. Soon the rest of this weight will be gone, and I'll be a helluva lot faster than 14 seconds.

At least the medal was sufficiently different from last year. It has corners.

Yes!

My marathon number has arrived, hurrah! I was getting worried.

And secondly, I was shown this picture today, and it pretty much sums up this blog (the second frame, that is)

3:11 am

That's the time I woke up at this morning.
I lay there worrying about everything I possibly could think to worry about until my alarm went off at 5:30 to go and run, but I felt dizzy and crap, so laid there till the last possible moment.
I had way too much to do at work today and no possible means of getting cover, so had to go in.

However, I am feeling better now. I have been drinking mucho amounts of fluids.
I will do some stretching and core tonight, and get back to running tomorrow, I'm pretty sure I'll sleep well.

And a Sports Direct order came, which is awesome, as some stuff was very cheap (crappy bra top for £2, and these amazing boxers for £4) so I'm happy. There is also a running head/hairband that ties at the back, making me look all kung-fu.

I shall wear these to work tomorrow. That's bound to help my mood.

Lurgy

Felt rather sick this morning. I had a day off work anyway, so walked the kid part of the way to school. Legs were a bit stiff, but mainly, I felt cold and weird. Decided to maybe run later, and swim first. Then my hoover broke, so I had to go and buy another one, which felt like a hideous waste of money. Then all other kinds of crap happened (including roofers on a farm building accidentally seeing me doing some dancing outside for the benefit of my cat), was kept waiting FOREVER in the bank, and then went to see a friend, which was nice, but the day kind of got away from me, and I still felt odd and it dizzy.

So, I have had a hot bath, and been doing some interesting versions of strength exercises on the living room floor, and accepting that this is a rest day. My swim would have been rubbish, anyway, so I'll make sure I do a very productive session on Saturday, and run a couple of extra miles tomorrow and the next day to make up for today. It'll be fine.

As Martin has said, I can't make any real fitness gains this close ot the big day, but I can mess things up.