I'm very pleased and relieved to say that I've managed 3 x 17 mile runs this week, as planned, as well as 2 sessions in the gym. I found Monday's run (03:29:11) quite easy, Wednesday's run (03:12:44) much more difficult and Friday's run (03:21:50) very very exhausting (physically and mentally). Only a playlist of music, on my iPod, from the Rocky films inspired me to finish. The impact that certain music can have on a particular run never ceases to amaze me. "Eye of the Tiger" and "The Rocky Fanfare" are my personal favourites. It's a good job it was pitch black at the end and nobody could see me punching the air like a boxer in training!I said last week about this week's 3 big runs that "This will be a real test of where I am at this stage of my training and will either serve as a great confidence boost or bring me crashing down to earth with the realisation of the scale of this year's run.". Well, I think I'm somewhere in between a confidence boost and a reality check. This week has certainly given me something to think about in terms of how I will spend the last 3 months of training.
After running 101 miles in the last 2 weeks, I think I'll give myself a "rest" next week and do some shorter quicker runs. Perhaps a few personal best times could be on the cards?
