Late Night Runs

With only six weeks to go untill the London Marathon the date seems to be drawing ever closer at a quicker pace than I can run!

On the whole the training seems to be going ok, if not a little sporadic due to work commitments etc. All my training runs take place late in the evenings and on occassions it's not uncommon for me to be out running the streets at gone 11.30pm. The shorter weekly runs I'm managing to get in without much problem, however, I'm still keeping my longer runs below the distance I should be doing, at this stage, in a bid to remain injury free. I just hope this plan doesn't fail me on the big day! Being a fell runner I do very little road work these days, so there's always being the worry of getting injured as a result of switching back to the roads and trying to do high mileages on hard surfaces at a constant cadence.

Whilst I love running up in the hills I have to say that I've been pleasently surprised to find myself enjoying being back on the roads again, on a regular basis, after so many years absence. I had forgoten just how simple it was just to slip on your road shoes and step out of the door and go for a run. I vow to continue with regular road runs, as part of my training, after the Marathon.

One thing that has shocked me though is how much road speed I have lost through spending all my running time on the fells and neglecting the road work. I used to train at 7 minute mile pace and now find that my training pace has dropped to over 8 minute mile pace. I know I'm older now but I do think alot of it is down to the lack of road work.

Still can't beat being out in the hills though!

Chris M