The week before the marathon...

6 days until the London Marathon.

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Yesterday I ran the Grangemouth Round the Houses 10k.

I was hoping for a personal best at the distance. I achieved this last year in this race (after 10 years of not
beating my P.B. in other 10K races).

This year, because of my training for London, I had more miles in my legs.

But I was also one year older. Doubtless this doesn't matter too much in your 20s and 30s, but now I'm 48. I don't feel slower,
but the miles are perhaps a touch harder.

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I set off fast. There was a strong wind at the back of the 700 some runners. Mile 1 was 6:28.

I turned the corner and headed into mile two. The route was comprised of a loop through the town of Grangemouth, and ended
on the track in the stadium.

Mile 2 was 6:41.

In mile 3 we turned into the wind. I was running hard, and just focusing on the road. I passed a runner who really breathing hard - had he set out at a pace that he couldn't sustain? 3 was 6:57.

In mile 4, D., a friend from the running club caught up. He's much faster than me, but offered to block the wind a bit as he was having an easy run before the marathon (which he is also doing). I was flagging a bit, and just watching his feet helped. I certainly would have slowed without him, and so I just stuck with him and counted down the kilometer signs. 4 was 6:54.

We made the turn back towards the start, and the wind pushed us along. Mile 5 was 6:34.

The final mile turned back into the wind before entering the stadium. D. surged on, and I just kept moving. At the back of the stadium, a runner was walking. He must have really went out hard to get this far in this quick, and then, with just 200 meters left, slow to a walk. Mile 6 was 6:55.

I entered the stadium and sprinted to the finish.

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After the finish, I was slightly disappointed. I'd run as hard as I could, with a pacer even, and had missed my personal best by 1 second. However, when I got home I checked the results and found that I had indeed ran a P.B. - 41:30 - beating my previous time by 3 second.

At a stroke, I went from feeling slightly washed up, to still vibrant.

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Last week was as follows:

Mon: swim 1250 meters
Tues: run 6.4 miles
Weds: run 8 miles with 3 x 1600 hard
Thurs: rest
Fri: run 1.8 miles on treadmill; upper body lifting
Sat: rest
Sun: run 6.2 mile race, with 1 mile warm up and 1 mile warm down.