Back from my weekly long run – 12.4 miles in 1hr 57mins. I’m pretty happy overall with this considering the route is not flat and I felt okay by the end of it. This hopefully keeps me on track for the marathon in 8 weeks time, although I will probably only get one 18 miler in rather than the two I had hoped for given that I lost some training time due to injury and the snow.

It struck me that a lot of running is to do with what goes on in our heads and our attitude. Often when running in my head I am viewing it as a “hobby” so feel I should be enjoying it, looking at the scenery etc and it shouldn’t hurt too much. However, training for an event is different – the running is not an end in itself and therefore my attitude needs to be different. I need to concentrate more, both on my pace and running style (I need to keep reminding myself to lift my knees up when I get tired) and run intelligently. So if I’m on a hilly bit I moderate my pace and take smaller steps and conversely when on the flat I need to push myself a bit more. Oh yes – and not be afraid of a bit of discomfort. As my other half often reminds me, I have never not made it back from a run or collapsed in a heap so there is more “in the tank” and you can usually push yourself more than you think without disaster! Now I know none of the above is rocket science – I just needed to remind myself of it and practice it!

By the way, my Garmin footpod is now operational again – a new battery was all that was required thankfully. Was so glad to have it today.

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