Johnny Hall's Travels and Travails

Finally.

Yesterday was my last (really) long run before Loch Ness, another 20 miles. This one was far less unpleasant than the other three were. I purposefully tried to keep my HR low (below 150 for the most of the first two thirds and a 150 average) and despite that, my pace was only 10 or 15 seconds a mile slower than the last one.

The big difference this time was that I seem to have recovered particularly well. Usually, I have difficulty walking downstairs for a couple of days afterwards because my quads are brutalised. Today, I just ran 4.5 miles at a low HR and a pretty good pace and I have no muscle pain at all. Which is nice.

The next three weeks involve steadily reducing the mileage - next week's longest run is 15 miles, then the week after is only 10, then it's the big event. My fitness has peaked now, I'm not going to get any faster but I do need to maintain what I do have, so I can't just sit around eating and playing videogames.

We're going away for a week in a cottage in the highlands next Saturday, so I'll probably get some hillwalking in (first time since the Wales 3000s) if the weather is decent.