the conquering of a nemesis

Another week successfully completed and a few hurdles crossed.

First time I've 'felt the burn' so far came on Monday. After 13miles the day before, my legs were like lead - worrying, considering I need to run over twice that amount on marathon day! Took on a tough track session at the new Scotstoun track - if ever I felt I had to prove myself at the Kelvinhall, the pressure was doubled at Scotstoun! Geez, it looks impressive under the floodlights - made me think I'd finally made it as an 'athlete'... and worked just that little bit harder!

Another tough two evening sessions followed - one the session that all Garscube members fear, the hills at Westerton station, and the other a 7mile tempo in the west end.

For the weekend I headed back to my roots in the 'shire, with a girls night out planned for a friends birthday on the Saturday. As I packed my bag, I realised just how times have changed (on Walton's Mountain), prioritising my running gear over my dancin' shoes... the shame. Kicked Saturday off with a run around Strathclyde Park... I think its for the best I don't return here for an 'easy / recovery run' as my competitive side took over and I pushed it bit harder than what would be classed as 'easy' to try overtake any other runner in sight.

Long run consisted of 15miles this week, which I decided to do in the local area on my own, to see whether I could survive without the girls company and chat that usually gets me round the longer distances. I don't think its possible to pick any route starting from Blackwood that doesn't involve hills, so it was always going to be hard. For those that are familiar, route was Blackwood - Draffan - Blackwood - Boghead - Lesmahagow - 'the cut' - dual carriageway - Brocketsbrae - dual carriageway - Blackwood. 'The Cut' is not to be messed with - a daunting hill leading from the 'bottom' of Lesmahagow to the 'tap' of Lesmahagow. This hill is so steep I know many a person who has gotten the service bus up just to avoid the walk. Last time I tried running up, I failed. This time... I did it - I took on 'the cut' and won and still managed to keep running to complete the 15miles. Result.