Some days you gain...some days end in pain

Has it really been 2 weeks since my last entry? Isn't it scary how time can just pass so quickly.
Things have moved on significantly since my last post, I've undergone a thorough running examination at the Human Performance Department at Lincoln University 2 weekends ago courtesy of Paul Murgatroyd who is reserching a paper on Ultra Marathoners.
Paul ran the Marathon des Sables with me last year, and I was excited and surprised to get my report back from him with his findings.
Surprisingly for both of us the Lactate Threshold & Vo2 Max tests indicated that I have a poorer running ecconomy than we would have expected for someone working with my mileage base. This supports the old addage, it's quality not quantity of training that matters.
I have always found distance work more enjoyable than speed work... no points for guessing what will improve my running ecconomy, and extend my Lactate Threshold and Lacate Turn Point... yep, quality speed sessions 2 times a week for the next 3 months.
That means working hard repeadtedly in the higher reaches of my heartrate and aerobic zones.

I have to say I now enjoy the speed sessions, and have taken up the challenge of pushing hard from the front, in the club sessions on a wednesday night.
The distance runs are now starting to taper down, and today was my last 20 miler before flying out on the April 4th, what a shock it had in store for me.

I met the guys for an offroad 20 miler at 10am, and all went well until 12 miles in. I knew I was well hydrated, well rested, and had plenty of energy onboard, and I had completed this same route frequently in the previous year, but today my legs were in agony and deep seated pain in my calves and bones told me something else was wrong.

We were joined for the last 7 miles by Peter & Cath, two of the regular Saturday bunch and the added company lifted my flagging spirit, and despite Peter doing his very best with his worst jokes... it all got very much worse for me with only 4 miles to go!
I was dropping back further with every stride, dredging the depths of my determination to get to the end, but I found it almost impossible to run up any incline, and my body was definately telling me something was very wrong! To say I was glad when the finish was reached is definately an understatement!!

Some days you gain, and some days end in pain... today was one of those days for me. I have learned to rest, reflect and recuperate when things go wrong, but with the training window erroding and the departure date approaching fast, I just hope it was a one off.
You know... it brought home to me the introspective aspect of pain, ... when the pain kicks in, I try to divert my attention away from me and think about the charities that we all support. I know there are thousands of people out there who would glady swap places with me at that moment in time because comparitively, they would be in less pain... it puts everything into perspective... try it some time!
more tomorrow, see you all again soon.