Having been to watch Coldplay with Moll last night, we stopped over in Manchester and took advantage of being a stones throw away from the Trafford Centre to get some bits and pieces ahead of our holiday next month. That meant that my long run was delayed until late afternoon.
I had hoped that having waited until half 4 to set off on my run, that I might be through the hottest of the weather. That seemed to be far from the case however, as the conditions became more and more humid and difficult to come with, eventually becoming unbearable and leaving me having to stop and walk my way home the last mile and a half, having stopped at 15 miles feeling dizzy and dehydrated.
I tend not to take water onboard on any of my training runs, choosing not to carry a bottle. Usually this doesn't prove to be a problem - today however I really struggled from 13 onwards and really should have taken some with me.
It does at least provide me with a good dummy run of the conditions that I am likely to be faced with at Freckleton Half Marathon in just two weeks time. The race continues to be run at mid afternoon on what is always one of the hottest days of the year.
On bank holiday Monday, I did a steady 8 miles in the evening, having been out for the day at Cartmel races with Moll, slightly less Han I do on a usual Monday. Having to work on a bit on Tuesday meant that I missed my track session, so substituted it for a 10k tempo run through the lanes at 5:34 pace, with a further 8 miles progressive tempo banked on Tursday with Rob Affleck, at 5:40 pace. Saturday saw me do another 8 miles, with the Preston Parkrun acting as an extra speed session in the middle of the session for me, with 16:44 for the 5k being exactly what I ran there last week too!
I love getting out into the lanes away from all the traffic and busy roads in the summer, but unfortunately there is one big drawback for me - I suffer quite badly from hayfever and in the months of June and July it always seems to peak over a six week period, leaving me with itchy eyes and a streaming nose. This last week it has been particularly bad and despite taking my medication it doesn't seem to have eased the symptoms much at all. If anyone has and remidies that works for them, please let me know!
A break from training for a brilliant night out watching Coldplay with Moll at the Etihad, Manchester.
Total mileage for the week: 67
Average pace for the week (m/pm): 6:23
Total mileage for May: 282
Total mileage so far this month (June): 49
Total mileage so far 2016: 1549
Average miles per day 2016: 9.92
