Group 5+

After last nights return to form, I decide to go out with group 5 at the club. It is advertised as 8-8.5 minute miles. At the weekend there had been a number of good performances by club members at the Tonbridge Half Marathon.

Tonight we run down to the Keston Mark. A couple of guys at the front keep pushing. The pace seems faster than meant to be. John stops to do his shoe lace and I joke to everyone that we should quickly rush off. John is easily fast enough to catch up.

Then disaster. My shoe lace comes undone. I have to stop. My cold fingers struggle to undo and retie the laces. All the time the rest of the group streak off. I chase after them and eventually battle my way back to the middle of the group.

We run the through the large houses of Farnborough Park. The fast guys at the front take a wrong turn and go a couple of 100 meters off track. This gives a chance for me to push at the front and reset the pace. The last mile or so the pack splits. For the first time I'm not struggling.

The last couple of hundred meters I really sprint hard. I am surprised how fast I go.

I have my non-gps stopwatch on, so I know how long I ran for, just not the distance. Someone tells me it is 12km. Based on that pace I would have run a 1:42 half marathon. My PB is around 1:42. Training runs are never as fast as races...

I've definitely recovered from the ultra and am on track for the marathon.

12km 58:10 (4:50/km)