Walpurgis & LSD

Didn’t do any running this weekend, first we didn’t celebrate Walpurgis night (waiting in the cold for a bonfire to be lit and then worry about any hedgehogs that might be hibernating underneath it all and consequently getting roasted – no thanks) by staying in watching a DVD, then checked out the newly laid lawn at the in-laws’ cottage, got fed, took a long walk along what used to be train tracks (now just grassy gravel), got fed again, and then on Sunday I rode my bike as fast as I could between various shops on opposite edges of town (came home with an obscenely bright pink top and several buckets of Greek yoghurt). So all in all not completely useless, but maybe not quite active either.

Yesterday was different, it was the last of three long runs with the group prior to the Gothenburg half on 22 May. Coach Erik had measured 18 k on a paper map using a ruler, and once back at the gym garmin said 18.00 k – not bad!

 
I’m quite pleased with the pace curve, just what I like to see before a race! At 8 k I’d tried to explain how to use my mobile as a camera to the girl on the support bike (yep, we had one of those, she brought nuts, raisins, salty gherkins and looked after everyone’s water bottles, it was great!) and the others were so far in front I had to run like my life depended on it. Sadly the moody mobile refused to cooperate, so no pics.

From about 14 k it was just me and the coach – we had two runners in front pretended to be Kenyans, and two behind. This meant I couldn’t slow down uphill, or wait for that extra car to pass while crossing roads, no, just run like Forrest he said. I’ll take a session like that every week, it’s not often you get a private coach just like that!