Week 7 was a vexing sort of week. The event that shaped it was a return to teaching. It was the kind of week where you deliberately go in early to be nicely organised for the first day back, only to discover that the computer won't log on until break time. The kind where you finish in good time to pick the children up to get to Brownies, and it takes over an hour to do what is normally 6 miles becaue the road was blocked and I had to turn and go via a town in the opposite direction. The irony is that I could run the normal route in about that time! The end result was that it was the kind of week where you're zonked out on the sofa for the night while the children are still swarming over you. This is not good training.
I didn't do the week day runs, and had to miss circuits due to other plans, so it was looking to be a washout of a werk. I did however squeeze in my long run.
I'd been puzzling over how to fit it in with Brownies bag packing. The answer presented itself spontaneously. Baby woke at 6 for one of his epic feeds, and by 6.45 I was feeling too awake to return to bed, so I ran instead. Being out of the house at 7.15 was a personal triumph in itself. The first half of the run was very quiet. Even the local runners seemed to feel it was too early on a Sunday. I noticed early on that my body felt good and fast, and that I was reaping a benefit from my hectic week; my body was fresh and rested. I ran 9 miles in 90 minutes, a new longest distance, and a mile further than the time I did my fun run in.
It's quite a big confidence booster. I know a race is psychologicaly easier than training runs on my own, and that I'll have a taper down similar to the rest I had, so it feels much more attainable now. Just a few more hard weeks of long runs to polish me off (both meanings applicable). It all seems attainable now...
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