Big Training Run

Sunday: Another late and sleepless night, I awoke very tired and not in the mood to run. However, today was my only chance to get a big training run in before GER, so I forced myself out of bed and into the park. It was annoying having to carry keys in my hands (no pockets today) but necessary. As usual, I had my Lucozade drink with me to drink at intervals, and today I tried out my new headphones, which are a little low on volume but not so bad and I appreciated not having to waste time with fixing earphones. It rained throughout the run, which was lovely, as I was sweating a lot. The target was 60mins: great trainer texted me to do 50mins, but they don't take into consideration the fact I have not done any big training runs, hence I set myself 60mins. The run had many difficult stages but overall it was fine. I felt very tired around 14mins, struggling a little in the 20's, and it was a very enjoyable stage when I hit 40mins. I tried to keep the route a little undulating and also, I tried very hard to keep my pace slow. I have a fear that slowing down will mean me going into 'walking mode', which I have to figure out, because I will only be able to do a 10km race by keeping things slow and steady. Looking back at my previous runs, I note a tendency to 'crash and burn', which is fine for a shorter race but I need to be very sensible and very disciplined for the 10km. The right calf was niggling at intervals, as was my right side but slowing down seemed to help. Today I covered 9.13km in 67mins 52secs, which would see me doing a 10km race in 75mins. I was, however, very much done for when I ended the run, so maybe over 80mins would be a more accurate estimate. Still, I am pretty satisfied with today's run, it has lifted my heart somewhat, running non-stop for over an hour. I could keep kicking myself over not having kept a closer eye on the training programme, but it's not constructive and will just lower my confidence before the race. I feel better prepared now, less nervous. Tomorrow will be a rest day after this big run, and I guess next week will be a fine balance between tapering and getting enough training in to be 100% ready for GER. I'll be travelling by train to Edinburgh on Friday morning (which will be a rest day), the race is on Sunday, and I leave for Manchester on Monday afternoon. I think this should work out fine, as I can have a light run on Saturday, and I have time to recover from the race before I go back. It should be an interesting experience, doing a race away from home, though Edinburgh feels like home in its own way. It is really good to go into it knowing I have a race behind me, that quietens the nerves somewhat.