Sunday 20 September 2009

Taking stock

It is 5 weeks tomorrow until the Dublin marathon which Liz and I are entered for.
I have been increasingly concerned about my lack of preparation. I am easily the worst prepared for any marathon I have done before and it is a worry.
Today I ran 16m and completed 47m for the week both of which are the best I have done since June.
Of course I cant do anything but look forward and do my best. I plan a 20m run in 2 weeks and then its hoping for the best.
The watch is proving useful and interesting.

Friday 11 September 2009

A new toy

I have a brand new garmin 405. Does anyone know how to use it ??
I have had a couple of goes and I can get it to record distance and pace but not time!!
No doubt its just a matter of trying different things
I was a bit distressed to see yesterday how slow I was running. There's no doubt my chest infection has slowed me down but usually I wouldnt have the evidence staring at me from my wrist. I'm sure it will prove a valuable training aid.
The weather has perked up enourmously since Wednesday which is good as we have the annual Comrie hills relay tomorrow. We have a record 29 teams and I am race organiser/coordinator or whatever.It should be a great day.

Sunday 6 September 2009

Switzerland

I got back from sunny Switzerland on Friday to discover Scotland has all but been submerged!
We had superb weather on the whole. A few grey days but lots of sunny ones as well.
The 1st week we were in the Bernese oberland. A place called Lauterbrunnen which looks up to several 4000m peaks. The Eiger is just around the corner as well. Its a truly lovely area.
We bought a 6 day pass for the area which meant we could go anywhere on the trains and cable cars in the area. We walked our legs off for 6 days and saw some stunnings places. A walk across the base of the north face of the Eiger was a highlight. Also a trip up through the Eiger to the Jungfraujoch (3500m) was another.
By the end of the week I had done no running bar a 4 miler and had been struggling with the old sore heel and a calf strain. On the saturday I was keen to do a run and did 6m alomg the cycle track to interlaken. Its a lovely run and I enjoyed it. Sunday was my Birthday and I ignored an embryonic cold and ran to Wilderswill rtn (14m). I developed a hamstring prob (what a crock) and then sank into the misery of a flu like illness. We were due a rest anyway so it could have been worse.
We did walk up the valley to the trummellbach falls which are extraordinary and were entertained by base jumpers flying over our heads as we walked along.
The day after we moved onto Neuchatel to stay with Phil. Sadly I couldnt really make the most of being there but we did a 3 hour gorge walk which was good.
I am just getting over what seems to have been a chest infection and hopefully will start running soon,
August really was a washout from a running point of view but we had a great holiday.