You’ve heard of the post-race blues – somehow I seem to have managed to do it the wrong way round and get pre-race blues. Normally at this point before a race (4 weeks) I’m starting to anticipate it, thinking about the course while I’m out running, what it will be like to finish etc etc – basically generally obsessing a bit about it. Not this time. Out of the blue last week for the first time I really did not enjoy running. Normally once I get out the door, it’s fine. Not last week. I hauled myself round my nightly 4 mile route but felt stale. I even asked myself why I was doing this at all.  I followed the JFDI principle but even this couldn’t get me out the door on my LSR on Sunday. I really could just not get my head round going out for 15 miles. So I didn’t – for the first time. I was worried. I am a runner. What was wrong? Then after not running for three days I went out again – it was okay again – so it came out of the blue but now I was out of the blues again. Sometimes maybe we really do need a break – just knowing when can be the difficult thing and when we just need to get on with it and out the door.

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There is a marathon here in the UK called the Neolithic Marathon which starts at the ancient stone circle of Avebury and ends at Stonehenge and is most definitely on my “to do” list.

In the meantime I have devised my own Neolithic Half Marathon, a 13 mile route which takes in some Neolithic rock carvings on a mound near to where I live. Not quite sure what Neolithic man would make of Garmins and GPS navigation and running for fun. But I love looking at the rock carvings and cup marks and marvelling at their existence over thousands of years and the connections they represent with the past and speculating as to their meaning.

Today however I did not linger speculating for too long as in true Scottish summer fashion, it started raining.

Neolithic rock carvings

Neolithic rock carvings

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Had another wonderful hill run on Saturday. Another beautiful day weather wise – sunny with a bit of breeze – just one of those days when it’s good to be alive. Taking in the views from the tops, the purple heather starting to come into bloom in the pass and swans on the reservoir near the end – it was just a run that was good for the soul. There’s not much else to say. Distance approx 10 miles.

View from South Black Hill

Heather coming into bloom

Reservoir view

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I enjoyed a wonderful run out on the Pentlands this morning. (I use the word “run” euphemistically – there was a certain amount of running mainly on flattish and downhill sections, some v slow plodding on uphill bits and some walking on v steep bits!).

The weather was near perfect – sun with a breeze – was glad I’d remembered to apply some sun cream, and everywhere looked lovely.

I find the hill runs such a different experience from road running. I love the variance of pace. On the long road runs I can get fixated with maintaining or achieving a certain pace and can spend most of the time watch watching. On the hills, at the moment certainly, pace is not an issue. Getting to the top of uphill sections without expiring is the goal and then enjoying the downhill and flatter sections where I can stretch out and go a bit faster. There is also not the same mental challenge of coping with monotony as there is in the LSRs on the road. In fact, I extended my planned route today because I was enjoying it so much.

As to how far I went, I’m not sure until I can persuade hubby that a Garmin 405 would make a lovely (late) birthday present or (early) Xmas present! Armed with string, a ruler and a Harveys map I reckon somewhere 10 – 11 miles.

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Yesterday evening I had the most wonderful run. You might find it strange I say this as it was one of my slowest and more difficult but I loved it. We had waited until the evening in the hope that it would be a bit cooler (not usually the problem here I might add!) and set off into the Pentland Hills.

I was testing my new Camelbak FlashFlo waist pack for the first time and after a slight readjustment we were off. I can only say I know why people can get addicted to running in the hills. There was just no comparison between this run and one done on pavements. The hills were swathed in golden evening light, the moon appeared in a cloudless blue sky with the trees silhouetted against it and there was peace.

We covered 7.5 miles taking into West Kip, East Kip and Scald Law. Yes, I had to walk on the steeper bits and my downhill technique is sadly lacking (or completely non-existent might be more honest) but these things can be worked on and improved. For the present I drank in the surroundings, the fresh air, the stillness, and loved every minute of it.

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For me running means freedom. When I run I feel free – and it frees me from all the stresses and things that worry me or at least they don’t seem so important by the end of the run. Even on a bad run day, I have never come back wishing I hadn’t gone out.

Today I got back into the Pentland Hills for the first time in ages. All the training for the Lochaber marathon in April was done on roads. (I trained for my first Dublin marathon mostly in the hills and really felt it when I had to do 26.2 miles on tarmac – so I learned my lesson that my long marathon training runs needed to be done on pavements).

Anyhow, I realised today how much I’d missed the hills – even when the rain came on (as it seems to do a lot at the moment) it was so much nicer than running in streets in the rain with cars flying past. There is no monotony in the hills. The hills mean real freedom – for me the freedom to plod on and push myself that bit more and, as I look round at the higher hills, consider what challenges I can aim for in the future.

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I was just sorting through some old issues of Runners World magazine and came across this article in the “Mind + Body” section of the March 2007 issue.

Entitled “Hanging Tough – having a long hard think can help you through a long hard run”, it grabbed my attention in light of my near-exit from the Lochaber marathon a week previously.

I still feel sick in the pit of my stomach thinking about how I would have felt afterwards if I had given up. And realising that I’m not as tough as I should be and just how important mental toughness is in keeping going.

As John Shepherd says in the article ” Whatever distance you run, the tougher your mind, the better your performance.” The article continues “Mental toughness is not a standalone quality though. It comes from being physically fit, confident and motivated. It’s not just about overcoming pain.”

The good news is that you can train yourself to be mentally tough although, as the article points out, the bad news is that the best way to learn mental toughness is through tough experiences.

• train well
• train hard (sometimes)
• train for yourself – intrinsic rewards rather than extrinsic benefits
• talk to yourself – at the hardest part of the run
• find help if you need it

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Well, that’s the last long run out of the way before the marathon in just over 3 weeks time. 15 miles in 2hrs 31 mins.

I’m afraid the shorts have been consigned to the bottom drawer again and instead I had to dig out the old tracksters again – plus windproof jacket as it was a howling gale out there today – with the odd shower thrown in for good luck!

At one point I was hardly moving – arms pumping vigourously, legs going but not really moving forward at all. Oh the joys of spring.

It was the hardest going of the long runs I have done for this marathon training – probably a mixture of the weather, the fact it was less than a week since my last long run and just an accumulation of the miles. The legs were certainly feeling it by the last few miles but it was a good mental challenge in keeping going even when it got tough.

Now it is taper time… it’s always a bit weird as you feel you should still be running long but know how important it is to let your legs recover for race day. Now the agonising about what to eat and carbo loading and such like can begin. Roll on 19 April!

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Had to dust off the shorts for Saturday’s long run.The sun was shining, temperature warm(ish) and there was no way I was going to swelter round 18 miles in a pair of Ron Hills. In past years there’s always been a slight hesitation before I inflict my bare flesh on Joe Public and a few contortions in front of the mirror to decide just how scary I might look! Read More…

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Today I did my longest run to date in this training for my April marathon. With 5 weeks to go I had to do 18 miles today to allow myself time to do a couple more long runs before the taper.

I was a bit apprehensive as to how I would get on as my legs had been stiff and hamstrings tight for most of the week after the half marathon last Sunday. I had also discovered that the calibration on my Garmin Forerunner 50 watch was a bit out (that’s for another post!).

The last 15 miler I did had been two loops of the same route so this time I opted to combine three of my shorter runs to give me the required 18 miles. This worked really well as I passed my house at the end of each and only covered a very short distance more than once. Also psychologically it was good as I segmented the run into 3 in my head and concentrated only on that one segment at a time.

Legs definitely feel like I’ve done something but having done this and not died has given me confidence that, with a couple more long runs under my belt, I should manage 26.2 in 5 weeks time.

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