Training, Planning and Running the DW Race

Reading in all the information for the GNR it says that by now I should be able to run 8 miles with ease as part of my ongoing training program, and if I can’t do that I should consider deferring my place till next year.
If I was completely truthful about my ongoing training I would probably say that I should defer, I can’t recall a single training session which has covered 8 miles.
I don’t intend on deferring though. I know I can cover that distance without dying, hell I know I can cover the full half marathon distance in a satisfactory time, and I am a much more accomplished runner than I was way back in March when I completed the Ironbridge Half, my only problem is my shin pain the following morning after a big session and I am going to take steps to address this with Kinesio taping (when the tape arrives) and by adjusting my running gait (with some limited success so far).

With all that said though I do think I need to focus 100% on this half marathon now. Every email and press release I read that I should respect the challenge of the GNR, and so far I haven’t.

Last night after work I ran the Wrekin. This is the same route as I had taken on Friday night where I run around the back of the hill, up the steep side and then over the top following the main route back to the car park. The route is about 4 miles long and climbs up about 1,300ft. I wanted to nick a minute or two off Friday’s time of 43 minutes.

I set off at a solid pace and all was going fine until I hit the steep section. There were a couple of people climbing up that bit too and as I ran past them I knew I was doomed. This section reduced me to a walk last time, and I knew it would this time but now that there was an audience I ran for longer than maybe I should have. When I did finally have to stop running I was buggered. I felt a bit sick (I’ve never run myself so hard that I thought I would be sick before) and had a horrible stitch and as a result the people I jogged past nearly caught me up. More haste less speed and all that.

After I reached the top it was a quick jog back to the bottom and was relatively easy as gravity did most of the work. All in I did it in pretty much the same time as Friday. So much for going faster.