Did my first proper long run in a while today. 90 minutes split into 30 easy, 30 steady, 30 easy. Average came out at 7:35 per mile whilst I covered just over 20km. Really nice to actually get out and on my feet for that length of time. I also quite enjoyed experimenting with the steady section in the middle which was mostly at about 6:45 pace but the last few kms dipped down to sub 6 territory which was really a little bit too fast. Wore long tracksuit bottoms and they were really getting whipped around in the wind but was thankfully warm enough for a t-shirt. Not particularly looking forward to the winter months and wrapping up tight.
After run had about 20 minutes recovery during which I watched Alistair Brownlee storming home in his triathlon to win the world series. Made me think a little bit about the choice that a talented young endurance athlete has- years of mediocrity as a runner being possibly even the best 10k runner in Britain but not being allowed to run world championships by your federation (for fear that they'll embarrass them?? which seems ridiculous) and even if you do being beaten into oblivion by the majority of the East African athletes or going to Triathlon and having a legitimate shot, if you work hard, at being a world champion or at the very least being competitive. Triathlon also being a sport with far greater financial rewards, glorifying the distance athletes as opposed to the sprinters and increasing publicity. Given the choice I'm almost shocked that so many opt to choose endurance running and yet, I'm in exactly the same boat and can't easily see myself going multi-sport. In many ways I'd almost prefer to just switch to cycling rather than multi-sport which seems crazy. I do intend to continue incorporating work on the exercise bike into my daily training which is something I've been neglecting in the last two weeks.
The thing I have been very good on is incorporating more running drills and hopefully that'll pay off in terms of a more efficient form, stronger muscles with better flexibility and fewer injuries Whether it will or not remains to be seen.
Almost immediately after the long run I went to play tennis with my family. We actually managed to get through a whole set without arguing- must be some sort of record! Was quite a surreal experience returning to a tennis court after not playing more than a couple of times in the past three years. Was very pleased with how well my surve went (bloody thing seemed better than when I left!) but was shocked at how poor my groundstrokes were. Might be nice to get back playing again a little more frequently as I did used to really enjoy it- unfortuantely it's so hard to get quality singles games and whilst doubles is interesting I do eventually find it frustrating. I'm a loner at heart and enjoy the pitting of my own strength against that of an opponent and with two extra players on the court you just can't do that!
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