A Long Overdue Reunion

am: 1600, 3 mins, 8 x 400 (1 min), 3 mins, 5 x 200 (30 secs) @ 5k, 3k & 8/15 pace – 4.38, 68, 66, 67, 66, 67, 65, 66, 64, 30, 29, 30, 29, 28. Thornes Park, Wakefield.
pm: 35 mins easy in Cannon Hill Park
13mi

I got myself to bed early(ish) last night and finally slept well which was a massive relief. Despite getting a good solid kip I still felt as if I’d been on big night out as I stumbled into the kitchen to make some breakfast. Such is the politics and general incompetence of Leeds City Council, there is not an available track in Leeds on a Saturday morning. As a consequence we are forced to drive to Wakefield and use Thornes Park; this isn't really an issue for me as it is only 15 mins but from the other side of Leeds you are looking at almost 45! I met Dale and Smithy in the car park at 0930 with the sun shining and we did a lap of the park as a warm up. I did not feel like training at all as my body is still not back to itself. I decided to approach the session in as professional a manner as possible to get it done effectively. I did no waiting around (I didn't have the time anyway as I had to be at Headingley for 1145) to try and wake my body up so I did stretching, drills & strides like clockwork. It was windy as ever so Smithy and I decided to share laps for the duration of the session. I still wasn't in the mood although my legs felt fresh enough; it was the rest of my body & mind didn’t. I felt very bouncy and relaxed on the mile rep and I could have banged out a good number more 400s too. I talked myself into the session and managed to get a really good workout at faster than what I thought I’d be capable of today. It was brilliant to share the session with Smithy as he’s a pretty metronomic runner (as I am) so we just banged out the session with minimal fuss – I certainly don’t think I could have trained as effectively on my own. I got a big blister on my left forefoot on the 2s which is usually a good sign I haven’t been rocking back on my heels! I am not sure how my posture was today but I was making a deliberate attempt to forefoot strike. I’d struggle to be more pleased after getting that session in the bag. I took Barry Fudge's advice and got my SIS Rego down as soon as I could before doing an easy lap of the park and racing across to Headingley Cricket Ground for the match against the Netherlands. I didn't even have time for a shower so I had to blow cold air on myself whilst in the car instead. I arrived on time, got changed and then did my 90 minute stint of programme selling. I went for the soft sell by listening to plenty of old people's stories, ranging from simple ones such as 'these use to be 50 pence you know' to tales of working in the armed services. Having sold my quota I headed to the press box to watch the first innings and thankfully there was a buffet set up as I was famished. Whilst updating the Yorkshire Twitter feed and marvelling at just how fast 93mph bowling looks, I managed to persuade Danny into coming to Brum with after the Netherlands had batted. I picked him en route and made it to Selly Oak in good time. It was nice to see my basketball housemate Jake had made a running comeback as he'd just returned from an easy 5 with Wilko and the boys! I ran to and from Cannon Hill with one big lap with Dan. I ran almost straight out of the car and as a consequence I felt terrible for the first mile or so but after that initial tiredness I was absolutely fine. My hamstrings felt a little fatigued from this morning’s session but other than that I had no complaints. We kept it very easy and it was perfect for an evening run. Cannon Hill is a fantastic place to run around and unsurprisingly on a beautiful evening it was buzzing with young families feeding the ducks. I had a very quick shower and arrived late for 'Big Ladz Curry' at our usual haunt of Chamon on Bristol Road. It was a brilliant night and our camaraderie was unbelievable - I think Danny Davis will have left thinking just how brilliant a place to be BUAC is. The particular highlight had to be Josh Gorecki's downing of a jug from the pickle tray and then going a bit crazy. We headed down to The Gun Barrels for an hour or so before getting to bed at a half-decent hour.