enjoyed running this week. 8k tuesday, 10k wednesday, 14k yesterday - all easy (although easy pace got quicker through the week as my legs recovered from the weekend). having today off before the first of the club races at the weekend (3miles with a huge hill in it). i'm so glad harrier season has started again - i've missed club racing! also i'm "racing" a half on sunday. i've decided that success is judged by how close i can get to 2hrs - rather than how fast i can go. that way i stand a chance of actually sticking to training pace rather than racing it!

Decided to go for a long run but use my racing shoes, new socks and new othontics to see what they were like for my next half. The course I used is an old railway line converted to a bike track, took it steady on the way out as strond wind behind me and slightly downhill, hit the turn at 40:50 and finished in 1:22:40 which surprised me considering I've been laid up a bit recently. Trouble is my toes hurt and I have a blister on my heel. Good news is I've now done 52 miles this month which is already more than the whole of last month.

Ran a 10K race today. I took 6 minutes off the same race as last year. My training must be paying off. Also, my friend and I both admitted that since we have been running longer distances we don't feel as tired as we used to for that distance. For some older women we consider that a positive. 7 weeks till my first HM!! Everyone looks like the weather has made a turn for the drier/warmer and that everyone is getting good training runs in...Happy running to all!

Marsha, congrats on the great race. An improvement like that is fantastic. Have been having a bit of a sore knee. Well, actually just a sore spot on the inside of my left knee cap. Weird, I know. Not really painful when I run but more of a nagging soreness the rest of the day. Decided while in Madison to look at a new pair of shoes even though the old ones only have about 375 miles on them. Bought a different brand this time. Went for an 11 mile run in them on Sunday. They seem to be working well and in spite of my LSD yesterday, the knee feels better today. Maybe it is too early to tell but it might have been my shoes. Hope it is that simple. But then again, it really wasn't a huge deal anyway. Just want to be in the best shape possible for my race in five weeks. I am doing a 2 mile small local charity run next Sunday. Not really expecting anything. Just going to call it my speed work for the week. Don't really want to go out so fast that I end up injured or something foolish happening. Good runs to all, wbertha

Good luck with your HM, Mr PH! Sounds like you're in great shape for it.

thanks simon - good luck to you too. i think mine is actually the same day as your 10k - may 4th so i've got an extra week to wait. will be looking forward to your race report. overall i'm starting to think i peaked a few weeks too soon. i don't feel anything like as good as i did when i ran round the vines about a month ago

Thanks to all for the well wishes. In regard to peaking, I'm no expert, but I have had races where I thought I peaked too early and did great, and other races where the opposite happened. Injuries aside, I try not to dwell too much on how I feel. Instead I just follow the old saying ..... Trust your training.