Yesterday didnt go to plan!
I made the mistake of eating too much in the morning, and got a stitch 10 minutes in. That was a bit annoying, but otherwise, I was running quite well up to about 6 miles in, and was on track for a sub 1.30 finish.
After the halfway point I could feel my hamstrings starting to tighten up, and by ten miles I was really struggling to keep any sort of pace and length of stride. Add to that a recurrence of my shin problem, which meant every other step was very uncomfortable, and by the final stretch I was jogging just above walking speed!
At 13 miles there was a "400m to go" sign, and I thought I could have a bit of last ditch sprint for the line.....Not a bit of it. I sprinted 100 yards and had to slow right down.
I finally crossed the line in 1hr41.30 secs.
I am disappointed as I believe I can go sub 1hr 30 (I ran 1hr30.41 secs at Dunfermline).
My preperation just wasnt up to scratch. I had been eating crap, I was hungover on Wednesday, I hadnt been running for 1.5 weeks because my shin had started aching a wee bit, my trainers need replacing, etc, etc.......
The course was a bit of a killer too, with short, steep climbs, and a long road section right into a nasty headwind.
Ah, well, a week or twos rest and then back to training.
Nick.
