Now then, Albert

Nearly another week's training in the bag, and a good one overall.

After my hard session Monday and a gentle recovery Tuesday it was off to London for a couple of days.  I stayed near Victoria in what I previously knew as the Victoria Thistle (also "the worst shithole of a hotel I have ever had the misfortune to spend a night in") but has cunningly rebranded itself as "The Grosvenor".  I met an old colleague on the train on the way down, and he was going to a big awards do at the real Grosvenor, but I had to run instead.  Past the Grosvenor, as it happens.

I got the route from the Serpies website, and ran along to Buck House then round Green Park.  It was pretty much dark, but I managed to stay inside the park and see ok by the lights from Piccadilly.  Across Hyde Park Corner reminded me why running in cities is a pain, then off round Hyde Park anti-clockwise.  At Marble Arch I turned left and along Bayswater Road, before going down past Kensington Palace and all those embassies and consulates.

They all stand gracefully looking out at one another, with fairly subtle security, until you get to the bottom of the road and there's the Israeli embassy all spiky fences and tank traps, saying "come and have a go if you think you're hard enough".

Past the Albert Memorial and the Albert Hall (no sign of the Fuhrer's missing gonad) then back to Hyde Park Corner, down Constitution Hill and repeat - 13 miles at about 8 min mile pace.  Decent mileage for midweek.

Thursday off, then today was 20 miler number 3 - the half way point of long runs.  Finished work at 2 then off to Silsden.  I ran this one a wee bit quicker, maybe 7:50 a mile on average to 14.5m at the Micklethwaite road, then tested my legs out with a few miles of faster running.

The first effort mile was 6:48 and felt "comfortably hard", then the next was 6:45.  I decided that if I'd done 2 it'd be rude not to do my traditional 4, so the next 2 were 6:39 and a cheeky 6:31 to finish.  I was blowing hard by the end but it feels good to have got the first 3 20 milers done before a bit of a cutback week next week.

The plan is then to do a couple of 22's before another week of lower mileage, then the pinnacle of my LR training will be a slow 24 miler at the end of March.  Gulp...