22 Mar - Slow 7 miles

Another gorgeous day!   Spring is definitely here, I can remember when I went out for my long run on Monday noticing all the buds and blossom starting to appear on the bushes and trees and how refreshing that was.  Also the days are getting longer which is great.  Everybody feels so much better when there's more daylight.  And the bonus on top of all that is that even though I'm working nights all this weekend, I'll actually be working an hour less on Sunday night with the clocks going forward - Result!  Yayyyyy!
I went and picked up some of the GU gels that Audrey uses from a triathlon shop on the other side of town, they certainly worked for her at Milton Keynes and I've heard a few good reviews on them.  They've got some snazzy flavours, but I've picked out Espresso Love and Lemon Sublime to try.  Unfortunately they didn't have any Chocolate Outrage in stock :(    I also noticed a podiatrist next door to the shop, so if I'm still in pain on  my next long run, I know where I'm going.  I've not had any luck finding a metatarsal pad locally so far, but have bodged a homemade one together by filling the toe of an old pair of tights with cotton wool and taping it on to the shoe insert.  If I don't have any luck getting a pad locally today, I'll get one on line through Amazon like this metatarsal pad


So anyway back to the run - it was a bit of a plod again @10:05 min/mile.  With all that time to think when running, I'm starting to get apprehensive about how long this marathon is going to take me.  At the start of training I'd been hoping to do it in 4 hrs, but now the reality is setting in and I really don't see me being able to make it. I might even be pushed to break 4:15 which is what I did in Edinburgh (which even had a big downhill start).  I've looked at the timings of my long runs from last year and they were faster than the ones I'm doing this year :(  It's a but disappointing as it would be so great to improve that much, but I guess I can only do my best.  I've got a feeling that time may not be on my side and that my age might finally be getting the better of me and to improve on what I've already done is going to be very very difficult.