Weekend Roundup

Last week I lost my mojo somewhat, I still managed to run 54.5 miles though!

On Friday evening I was due to run about 8 miles to help out ‘friend of the pacepusher’s’ Miss Pump. Mrs pacepusher was due to run the first 5 miles with her, then I would complete the rest of the run to help her achieve the 13 miles scheduled for her first long training run in preparation for the London Marathon. Mrs pacepusher was not feeling, looking, or sounding well but was determined she was running so as not to let Miss Pump down. As she stood there half dressed in work clothes and half in running gear (I should have taken a photo!) I realised that I had to prevent her from going any further than the sofa. “I’ll just go and do it all, it’s fine”, says I!

18:06 13 miles 2:05:55

Average 9:41 min/miles

I really enjoyed the run, catching up with the latest gossip from Miss Pump, and running on streets my feet don’t meet very often. I was told to run at her pace (target 09:00 min/miles) and I did, not one mile was under nine minutes. When Miss Pump slowed, I slowed with her and just let her run at the pace she was comfortable with (not sure she would say she was comfortable over the last few miles though). She did really well and completed the run as planned. She has a 15 mile run scheduled this Friday, and I’m hoping to join her again. Mrs p is also hoping to run the full distance.

On Saturday morning, the pacepushers were planning a West Highland Way trip. This was to be Mrs p’s run as she missed the  last training run in December. We were joined by an enthusiastic Harvey, and WeirRunner (formerly known as ‘Chris from KAAC’) and ran from Milngavie to Balmaha.

10:00 19.5 miles 3:55:59

Average approx 12:03 min/miles

The weather forecast was for strong winds and heavy rain. We were relatively lucky in that the wind was generally behind us, and the rain held off until late in the run. That said, at the top of the climb over Conic Hill, the weather was the most severe I have ever had the pleasure of running in! The wind was fierce and the rain was sleet like as it slapped into your face. It was painful and at times I felt like I was running on the spot! Harvey didn’t know what to do and kept trying to hide behind my legs. He’d run ahead a couple of steps then circle back around behind me.

Having stayed together as a group for the whole run, Myself and Harvey ran a section up Conic and suddenly I’d opened up quite a gap. I was really cold by this point so decided to just keep going, deciding I would try and get to Pete who would be waiting in a nice warm car at the bottom of the hill in under 4 hours. We flew down the hill, thoroughly enjoying ourselves, and were well inside the four hours. Harvey did a great job of picking the easiest route down the hill and I just followed him! He had coped fine with the distance, and had food at Drymen like the rest of us.

We were lucky that we had decided to run on the Saturday (we had originally planned a Sunday run) as the weather was foul on Sunday. I took Harvey for a walk and discovered our usual route on the cycle path was slightly (? – see below) flooded. Not to be deterred, we continued along, returning home with cleaner paws and trainers than we had set out with!

Let’s see what this week brings…