“Then, mistaking a group of garishly dressed men for pirates, Tobias boarded a van full of homosexuals.”

The Narrator, Arrested Development

Monday 6th July – After staying up till 4:30am watching England, I’m tired today. I’m not as knackered as I could have been though. I boxed clever with an early night, so it could have been a whole lot worse. A late start at work was never an option. I work from home but officially I work out of the Scottish office. So, unsurprisingly, I didn’t receive any emails last week telling me I could have take the morning off. The World Cup ended for Scotland a week or so back. That’s not a dig at them by the way, it’s just the way it is and I don’t blame them. The day doesn’t drag as much as I thought it would to be fair. I get my weights session in over lunch time but it’s a slog. My virtual Yoga session is cancelled but I decide I really need the stretch, despite the fact I can’t be arsed. I therefore watch a 30 minute YouTube video that I’ve done before. It’s also a slog, but I’ve still managed to get my two usual sessions in. I have tea, then put myself to bed for 8pm. I’m so middle aged.

Tuesday 7th July – I wake up refreshed and with the good news that the USA got pummelled by Belgium overnight. Delicious Karma. I feel a bit stiff in the morning and leggy through the day. The club session tonight is Thresholds. Two sets of Thresholds in one week? Can’t wait. When I get out for my warmup miles however I feel ok. There is a spot on rain in the air which is just fine by me – we’re predicted some warm weather the rest of the week so I’ll take this while I can. The session is a series of short bursts of 5k paces – 90 seconds, 60 seconds, etc, followed by recoveries. Mini thresholds really. We get all the way to the other end of the Coast and Tynemouth, where we get a 3 minute static. Looking out to sea we’re lucky enough to spot a pod of Dolphins. We get them quite a lot during the summer here, but I always seem to miss them, despite seeming to spend half my life down here running. So it’s nice to not only get to catch them, but also do it while standing completely still. It’s then a run back along the coast, around 2 and a half mile ish, at threshold pace. I’m not looking forward to this bit, but once I get going, I really get into my stride. In fact, I feel stronger the longer it goes and breakaway with the quicker runners in the pack. I know I’ve gone to fast, and I know I’ll probably pay for it as the week goes on, but by fuck I enjoyed that. 

Wednesday 8th July – It’s the start of another ‘Heat Wave’ for the UK. As will all Heat Waves, the North East isn’t going to get it as bad, so we’ll only have low to md 20s for the next few days. The day starts badly when I notice that one of my Stick Insects has died. I did think it was dead earlier in the week, but they’re very good at pretending they’re dead – it’s kind of part of their party trick. I take it out with my daughter’s eyelash curlers then flush it down the toilet. I decide to never tell my daughter about either of these things. It does feel very warm first thing. A combination of sleeping badly (including my cat sitting on my head at 3am) and going far too fast last night, has meant I’ve woken up tired again. The longer the day goes on, the more tired I start to feel. By mid afternoon I can feel myself dozing off at my desk, which I never do. It’s 6 easy today, and boy will it be easy. I head off down the Wagonway and it is warm. Close and clammy. There are files everywhere and an absolutely massive one kamikaze’s itself into my mouth. I do manage to spit it out before the inevitable swallowing and gagging that all runners experience with fly swallowing. Add flies to the list of animals that have tried to kill me during Marathon training. Physically, I’m not as knackered as I thought I would be. When I turn at 3 miles you can feel that the temperature has dropped maybe a tiny bit. Not dramatically, but it doesn’t feel as hot as on the way out. The flies have also buggered off, meaning I finish without any more assassination attempts. It appears to be things with wings that don’t like me.

Thursday 9th July – It’s hotter than yesterday. I’m meeting a work colleague for lunch while he passes through on his holidays. As soon as I pop out the front door you can feel the heat. When I get down the sea front there is a nice Southernly breeze down there. Tonight’s Thresholds are going to be a bit of a stinker –4 x 2 miles. I make a decision that I’d be nuts not to come down here and take advantage of that. It will be busy though due the weather. Bloody general public. So I’m going to head North towards Seaton Sluice where it will be much quieter, then turn back South to finish on the front before I hit the busy stretch, whilst also taking advantage of the breeze being in my face on the way back. Clever shite me like. After a very pleasant lunch with my colleague, where I show great restraint and not eat very much, I come out to see a bunch of Motorhomes on the main pad. That’s not good news for Parkrun on Saturday. The Pad is both the start and finish of the course. Unless the council move them on before then (highly unlikely) it will be cancelled. Oh well, I’ll have a lie in on Saturday. Later on I venture out for the Thresholds and, despite the heat, it goes really well. I feel quite strong, and my planned route ends up working out perfectly. I really am a clever shite. When I finish, I have a lie down on the grass for 10 minutes and enjoy the early evening sun. A good nights work, nothing winged tried to kill me.

Friday 10th July – Yup, it’s hot again. Although the breeze from yesterday is much more noticeable inland – it’s not just confined to the sea front. In contrast to last week, I don’t feel tired. I do my weights session at lunchtime, where it’s warm but bearable. Then it’s down the coast in the evening for my hills session. It’s a lovely, warm summers evening and the coast is really busy. I’ve noticed my hill reps are getting gradually slower as the weeks go by. First week so was sprinting up here, this evening it’s just about getting it done. Still, get it done I do!

Saturday 11th July – As predicted, Parkrun is called off. The irony being that it’s called off late on the Friday afternoon, then the Travellers fuck off about an hour later. It’s like they knew and it was their final act of trolling the locals. Fair play to them. As England are playing late in the evening, I decide to take advantage of this and have a long lie in. This will turn out to be a great decision. England beat Norway after extra time, which means I don’t get to bed until well after midnight. Seeing as I’m planning on getting up at 5:30am to get in my long run, that lie in was a work of genius.

Sunday 12th July – I’m up at 5:30am and whilst tired, know it could have been much worse. Today’s run will be a real tester to see where I’m at and whether my sub 4 hours is achievable. I’ve kept my oar in over the Winter with the odd 16 miler here and there, and today is the first time I’ll go over that distance since the Marathon last May. It’s ‘only’ a couple of miles more, but this will be 18 miles at faster pace than ever before. I accidentally (although I blame Amazon) bought a box of Electrolyte gels instead of Isotonic ones and didn’t realise till yesterday. I decide to take one with me to have as a ‘bonus’ gel at around the halfway point. It’s a nice morning, around 14c, with intermittent sunshine. I once again avoid the coast completely and head inland for a slightly modified route that incorporates my 16 miler and the 20 milers I did last year. Importantly though, it’s designed around avoiding those evil white feathered bastards of the sky. It’s a pleasant run and I feel good. Thankfully, my route is avoiding all of the demonic gulls and I have a violence free run. At around 9 mile I try my Electrolyte. It tastes amazing, a bit sweeter than the Isotonic, and whether it’s all in my head or not, I feel really refreshed for taking it and get a burst of energy for a mile or so. This could turn out to be a great happy accident. My feet feel great as my shoe situation seems to have sorted itself out. One tiny issue that I noticed a bit last week has happened again this week – chafing. Due to the heat (or at least it being a bit warmer) I’m sweating more but it’s drying out straight away – prefect chafing conditions. I get a little bit on my inner groins, although they aren’t too bad. I’m not screaming in the shower afterwards and I can walk around the rest of the day without even noticing. It is something to note though, and I think I may have to rack out the Lanacane for the first time in years. The surprising bit of random chafing I get that bothers me more is on my right hip. This I assume is caused by my phone, which is tucked into a phone pocket within the inner shorts. I’ve been wearing these make of shorts for a few years now, and never had this happen before. Again, I can only put this down to the warm weather and long duration of the run. It’s another spot that I’ll need to grease up before I head out next week. Apart from those slight negatives, the run goes great. I maintain my Marathon pace throughout and do the 18 miles in 2 hours 41. Of course I’m a bit tired, but certainly not absolutely knackered. In fact, I head out with my daughter for a long walk in the afternoon and end clocking 40k steps by the end of the day. The slight chafing is the only real negative, but even then I hardly notice the rest of the day and it doesn’t detract from my mood that this morning was a job well done. 

Mood: Erm..a job well done.