Post Loch Ness

I must admit to feeling a bit depressed the other day after my poor showing at Loch Ness. It rather took the shine off of what should have been a great weekend. However, it's no good dwelling on "what ifs" when what I should be doing is working out what went wrong.

In essence, the old adage "If you fail to prepare, prepare to fail" pretty well sums it up. Racing a marathon is never easy and I was probably guilty of approaching this one a little too casually. I only entered 5 weeks before the race and although I had a few long runs under my belt, the training in terms of quality and quantity wasn't there.

I think also if I had spent more time studying the course profile (which I didn't map until after the race) I might have been better prepared. I had always assumed that the course leveled out after about 4 miles when in actual fact it doesn't level out until 8 miles, the point at which I felt I was struggling. With hindsight I probably mentally "threw in the towel" when I felt the running becoming harder which wasn't just due to tiredness but also down to the fact that the course levels out at that point.



Such was my mood yesterday I almost considered not going along to the club last night. In the end I did go and ended up being so glad that I did. No one could quite summon up the enthusiasm for running last week's cancelled 5K so we did our usual "hills" session (which consists of a series of short sprints over all the short hills & bridges in Troon). I rather suspect that speed work two days after a marathon isn't to be recommended and I went out full of good intentions just to jog round with the back-markers. That resolve lasted all the way to the top of the first of ten hills. ;-) After that, I was sprinting up all the rest and absolutely loving it. I almost feel sorry for non-runners who can't know the sheer joy of getting up on to your toes and hoofing it to the top of a hill whilst racing your club-mates. One of the greatest feelings in the world.

Of course all this competitiveness is probably why I keep injuring myself but last nights session was great therapy and I feel good about my running again. Last night was also my first run in a long time without my orthotics that I had made for my plantar fasciitis. The PF has given me no trouble whatsoever for several weeks now and my foot was absolutely fine during (and after) the marathon so , touch wood, I'm fully recovered. Of course I probably should carry on using the orthotics for a few months yet but I didn't like the way that they forcibly reminded me every time I put my shoes on that I was an "injured runner". I'll take extra care to watch for any signs of recurrence but the psychological benefits of casting them off outweigh the physical risks for me at the moment.