Some proper Japanese style base training during the day courtesy of the double school run. Over seven miles walked, not all of it flat out mind you, as the little one wandered along mostly in her own little dream world.
As for the run proper, it was back to putting in just shy of 4.5 miles alone before meeting up with the GRC guys. This felt fairly pain free, apart from a liquid stomach, although it felt like I was working a bit harder than the pace suggested.
Once on the club run, it was the usual mix of mostly easy miles chatting along, some proper running conversation mixed with some stuff better left on the run. At the drop out of Barrowby I allowed the legs to relax and flew down the hill. It was there I saw the green eyes, thanks to the head torch in the total darkness, of what may have been a feral cat. Didn’t hang around too long to see if I was correct in my guess of species.
Once onto the A607 I decided, with the cross country race fast approaching on Saturday, to allow base slow running rules to be relaxed for a mile or two to out in a bit of a stretch at marathon paced effort. What was pleasing, apart from a return of the nagging ache in the left hamstring, was that it felt very easy to knock off the complete mile on the stretch at 06:08. It felt like a pace that was entirely sustainable for some distance and is encouraging going forward once training commences properly in earnest.
That quick bit done it was back to a comfortable pace back to club, then after some chatting, the 1.6 miles or so back home. Boy did the legs stiffen up in those 10 or so minutes of inactivity. It took a minute or so of uneasy shuffling before life returned to the pins.
Sixteen miles covered in as near as dammit two hours of running. Exactly as planned. Decided to follow the plan and rest Friday ahead of the race on Saturday. Apart from the Japanese style training that is.