Very Long Run

Apologies for this post being a bit late - been very busy here planning a committee meeting for Otley AC and ordering a few supplies for the Otley 10 mile road race and fine tuning my nutrition schedule for the end of May ... and lots of other stuff too.

Tuesday was the day set aside for my longest training run in preparation for the Run To London - 40 miles was planned and duly completed in just over 5h 40. The day got off to a bad start though and I wasn't too impressed about that.

This is what happened: My son (Keir) had to go to Herd Farm near Eccup (between Leeds and Harewood) for a training course related to a Duke Of Edinburgh's award he's doing at the moment. He had to be there at 10.30am so I agreed to go with him on the bus and start my run from there. The problem arose when changing buses in Leeds - the second one didn't show up! We were at the bus stop well over half an hour and in the end we gave up and went to Starbucks for a warm drink whilst deciding on the best course of action.

By this time it was too late to make alternative arrangements for Keir to get to Herd Farm so he went home and I started my run in central Leeds. Turned out OK and was probably good practice as 'problem solving on the run' is one of the things we ultra runners have to frequently do.

So (powered by Starbucks Ethiopia Sidamo) ... the run itself was not bad except that I had a bad patch between 35 and 38 miles where I walked for about seven or eight minutes. Eight minutes thirty per mile for five hours on a windy day was obviously taking it's toll.

Recovered well though and yesterday did a very good session of hill reps.

Late yesterday afternoon I received an email from one of my helpers who now cannot provide car support on the Run To London due to work commitments. This is bad news as the event is getting quite near now.

Is anyone out there willing and able to take his place? Please. The task will basically entail transporting food, drink, kit, etc in your car but stopping regularly to make sure I stay on course and to hand me food and drink as necessary. If you can help (or if you know someone who can) or want further details please let me know by email: chris.carver@btopenworld.com