Was not feeling it this morning. The heat has been playing havoc with my stomach, the right Achilles remains grumpy and am generally tired and run down.
As a result I was not in the best mood when meeting Messi at the top of the hill (particularly after a 5.30 first km). He's running super strong at the moment and does not seem to have a bad day whereas I tend to be more up and down. Low on confidence I even brought the phone with (which is never a good sign) and holding 4 gels and my keys in another bag in my right hand. At the very least it gave me balance.
Even running down Meadway I was feeling groggy and it continued that way out the other end of the park along the A21 towards Farnborough High Street which has a quaint village green and nice looking pubs. Messi was regularly politely asking how I was feeling as I continued to grumble back at him. I sensed he wanted to go faster as he kept looking nervously at his average.
This run you can basically break up into 2 halves. The first being uphill (c.400 vertical meters) and the second downhill. The fun really starts in the 1st half at the Pratts Bottom (no joke & not making this up) turn off up Rushmore Hill which is a 3k slog up to Knockholt which is another quaint village with homes which are in the £10M plus range. Cannot remember exactly what Messi said but it was along the lines of stop fooling around it's time to knuckle down.
In a funny way the extra effort snapped me out of my sluggishness and felt like I was moving ok going up. I've also noticed recently some signs that the leg strength is improving as managed to find a cadence that worked which was not too taxing on the legs - the exercises and yoga seem to be paying early dividends. At the top of the slog it undulates through the village before the sharp left then right onto Grays Road.
This was basically the 21k marker and we stopped quickly for me to hand out the High5 gels (me opting for banana). 2 minutes later we turned right at the fancy Indian restaurant before heading back towards home. This is where the cruise control comes in with the downhill.
At that point we had been averaging 4.32s but that started tumbling down as basically between 20 and the end 36ks we averaged sub 4s. Lots of 3.50s but paying attention not to push the heart rate too high into the 150s. Past Biggin Hill airport and more quick kms we finally turned onto the quieter Blackness Lane and then quickly Jackass Lane (no joke again!).
Here I always feel like I am home with 6ks out and it's a road I know like the back of my hand as is also my road home on my Hilly Long. More of the same through Coney Hall keeping the cadence high and even a 4.07 up the final hill (Pickhurst Lane). A quick farewell and then the final 1.5k home for me.
Tired when I got home but that is 1.5 minutes quicker than the previous best 1 month pre London last year to finish with 36kms in 4.16s (avg HR 136). Today the conditions were kind to us with temps in the low 20s but still very pleasing as felt I had more in the tank despite no breakfast and only the 1 gel.
On today's form I reckon Messi is a shoo-in for 2.33 in Berlin. He never looked troubled.
Post London 2017, I said I needed to change 3 things:
1. Do more MLRs - which I am doing
2. Concentrate on leg strength and yoga - tick again
3. Lose weight. The estimated 82kgs for London is simply too much of a handicap. For many it's another 1/3rd of their body weight. I am 80 now but if I am serious about getting into the low 2.40s it will need to be 77 max. Even then it's far too much of a disadvantage to give away. My issue is that I have little body fat it's just my frame and is almost impossible to shift.
Today's route:
https://www.strava.com/activities/1051313722
13 weeks to go.
* Rest of the day spent with younger boys at the summer fair where Jacqui was helping out whilst Tommy out with mates and Jack playing cricket for the school. Nice visit at the fair from family Messi too.
Drinks tonight with J to celebrate her qualifying as a PT.
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