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Hello Fudgey Friends,

I hope everyone is having a good weekend. Special mention to all those who took part in The Great North Run, I did think about the runners whilst I was out for my run today.

I'm pleased to report that for the first time since 15th August my long weekend training run actually happened, only exception to this was The Glasgow half marathon on 3rd September, other than that I haven't ran on Sunday since 15th August due to illness and fatigue.

I woke up this morning and the thought of going out to run for 3 hours didn't really fill me with joy I have to be honest. Then I realised I had no foot tape as I'd left what I have left at work on Friday - time to order more I think. I did find some narrower stuff in the drawer that I'd bought from Tesco so had to make do with that and it was OK, though not as good as the usual wide tape I buy from First Aid 4 Sport. It was also raining which doesn't really inspire you to get out there - though I would rather run in the rain than in the heat.

After a couple of low calorie cereal bars and some tea, I got all kitted up & headed out the door.

The plan was to run for 3 hours but I was going to try & keep the pace down so I could achieve as close to the 3 hours of running as possible. The pace was a good bit slower than I am used to but it really did help warm me up and I was soon enjoying being out. I did get hungry when I ran past some houses where someone was obviously frying bacon as I got a waft of it. Later on I kept getting a faint smell of lavender which was really lovely as I adore Lavender oil.

Between around 14 & 16 km I struggled a little but this was partly due to stopping at lights and having to negotiate pedestrians who just stop right in front of you!

I also continue to have issues with my headphones and now only have sound in one ear - most likely due to my constant tugging at them to stop the cable from strangling me. If anyone has anyone recommendations for running headphones please let me know. I have little ears so the in ear ones don't stay in well. The ones I currently have are Sony Sports ones and they've been good up till my last 2 runs.

After running for 23km I was very much out of my comfort zone - furthest I'd ever ran was 21.43km. I really wanted to quit, my legs hurt & I knew I had some blistering, but the kilomathon is in 2 weeks & I'll need to run 26.2km and it's highly unlikely on the day I'd just give up at 23k - I am quite determined if nothing else so I decided even if I had to walk I would make it to 3 hours and hopefully at least 25km today. So at around 23.3km I stopped and walked for about 2 minutes and then starting running again - it was slow and it was painful physically but mentally I was totally focused. I ended up running 26.25km in 3 hours 7 minutes 32 seconds and was very pleased with myself.

Garmin Stats

I'm pretty pleased with these. I'm hoping the kilomathon will be a little faster, race days usually are and I will be well rested and fuelled and have the knowledge that I can do the distance. There were also no breathing issues after today's run so I'm hoping that's the last of my cold gone.

Recovery

As soon as I got home I made up my recovery drink & got straight into an ice bath. My legs really hurt and I could feel them stiffening. Ice Bath, cup of tea, 5 minute lie on the bed & then a warm shower and the legs felt a million times better. I actually think that I'll have no ill effects tomorrow - what a difference compared to Glasgow when I didn't have a recovery drink or ice bath. I don't care if it's psychosomatic - I won't be skipping either the ice bath or the recovery drinks again.

I'm also wearing my new compression socks and have to admit I quite like them, even if it's just keeping my legs warm they feel comforting.

Well I'm heading off now to make some minted pea soup, smokey barbecue chicken with broccoli & crispy potatoes, an individual fruit crumble for me & a wee surprise for Mr Fudgey.

Take Care everyone

love Fudgey xxxx