on for a record mileage week

since last monday i have now done 47 miles. that is far and away the biggest week since my come back to the sport. taken on a average that should put me on for around about 70 miles this week. tonights run with my mate paul consisted of running about 11 miles all down rural tracks and roads, for those that know the area, i started at sheepway ran down the dirt track towards portbury village, but when i got to caswell lane instead of going left towards portbury, i turned right towards clapton in gordano, straight through clapton and to the bottom of the road just before clevedon. about turn repeat the same, only on the way back, nortons wood lane and clevedon lane were run hard, covering that 4.2 mile section in 27 mins 30 secs. still a way off the olympic qualification times that i dream of but i'm used to losing now so what difference does it make at this stage in my career? paul finished about 5 minutes behind me i was really in the mood to absolutely crucify my self today as a few things have gone wrong today oversights that i have made and i'm just really annoyed with my self for being me and just being generally a crap person.

getting the miles in...

i'm off work this fortnight and i have decided to use the oppertunity to try and get some miles in. 30 so far this week up til last night broken down as follows. 16.4 on monday night 6.25 on tues and 8.2 last night. all done in the name of building up the miles before i go in to maraathon specific training early next year. it is a challenge that i am very much looking forward to, but at the same time i'm not sure as to whether or not its the right move career wise for a number of reasons. firstly the injury risk is significantly higher due to the number of miles that you have to run. secondly i don't really have the physique of a runner let alone a marathon runner as i am about 30 or 40 kilos too big even when i'm at my leanest. unfortunately though even a sporting perfectionist who is highly competitive like my self can't find a solution to a problem like that short of lopping off an arm or some thing. there must be one but i don't know it so for now i'll have to use that pathetic tiresome excuse about how my genetics aren't good enough. i have often, especially recently thought that i may be a better cyclist than a runner with the long legs etc and the fact that cyclists can generally get away with being heavier than distance runners can.

as well as the miles i'm planning on doing the speed work quite soon to bring my 10k time down to some thing more respectable like about 37 or 36 minutes and marathon training will certainly help with that but you do have to prioritise and if it came down to the choice between doing a long run of 22-24 miles and running a 10k pb the miles have to come first in marathon training although it is still important to get the speed work in when preparing for the big 26.2 miles, which will probably be in edinburgh on the late may bank holiday in 2010. i am keep ing my options open over what race i do but that looks like the most likely option.