, and their unpredictability teaches you to dig deep and cope with the ups and downs of running."Her improving times have been a by-product of the competition; she’s personally far more interested in beating other people than in racing against the clock. That numerical
. My self-doubts arose at the start line when the race director declared that "the course is probably more like 27 or 27.5 miles", adding that the stretch to the finish was all downhill, as if that offered some consolation. After a long, strenuous
the weather and made camp on stretches of inconspicuous wasteland beside the roads or tracks. There were occasional visits from friends and family and the odd night in a house or hotel, but it was largely a hard, solitary adventure. But what an adventure
predetermined pace that I can sustain for the duration of the event. It is entrenched and ingrained, and that’s why I don’t rely on technology to tell me how fast/slow I should be going – I know deep inside what race pace feels like. Of course it varies
and as it turned out to be good (I couldn't go before the race because the horrendous queues meant I would have missed the start). I guess I would have lost at least 10 minutes at the first set of loos as the queues were six or seven deep for each toilet. So a
whenever I train. It doesn't matter what distance, how frequently, or what intensity - if the muscles are in use, they start going really tight. The only way I seem to be able to keep myself from having painfully tight muscles is to stretch everything
. The crowds cheered even louder on the bridge.”Matthew Deller was amazed at just how many people were there: “reaching the crowds at Tower Bridge – what a lift; in places the supporters were eight people deep,” he says.Mile 13Once you’re over the bridge, you
an influence over the decisions we make and the path that takes us on. – stoxy I took the dog up the woods and along the canal last night. He was loving all the mud, got down to the canal, slipped and fell in! He couldn't climb out as that stretch
the farm tracks that make up a large part of the route into deep puddles and mud. The return leg of the out-and-back course was slippy, and, where I hoped to be gaining some time as I neared the finish, I was losing time as I slithered about." TriciaW also
point I can see ahead of me. When I get to it I decide to run a bit further to another point, and so on. That breaks the run into small sections and I never have a long run stretching out ahead of me. M.ister W Have you tried doing a timed run
