21 miles plus a bonus 1.5

I set out this morning with the aim of doing 21 miles (the longest on my training schedule) however arrived home having done 22.5. I'd planned out an addition to my normal route but that was slightly longer than I anticipated meaning I had to go the extra distance to get home. Time wise, I completed it in 2:50:45 which puts me on track for my target time for London and leaves under 4 miles to cover on the big day.

One of things I love most about running is being
out in surroundings like this!

Despite the extra distance being accidental, I felt great the whole way today and actually now feel much more confident about the day itself. So this monster training run brings me to the end of February during which I have covered a total of 173 miles, my most ever!

The weather was terrible today; cold, wet and windy so I wasn't really feeling it this morning but as soon as I got out, my legs felt great so I knew I had the distance in me. I changed up my route slightly meaning when I reached my usual 4 mile marker I had already covered 6.5 miles. From there it was on to a new loop that was great a lovely quiet country road (think one car passed me) but very hilly. I used to hate hills but am slowly coming around to quite enjoy them and can really feel the benefit of including them in my training.

I made pit-stop at 10.5 miles for my first Gel and Water then continued on back to my usual route. Still feeling pretty good I went on to 16 miles then had my second Gel to keep my going for what meant to be 5 miles, but turned into 6.5!

My battery died at the red dot - my route actually
finishes back at the start!

On getting home, I spent a good 10 minutes cooling down including static stretching and foam rolling as i'm anticipating some stiffness tomorrow. This afternoon will be all about refueling - taking advantage of the golden 2 hours post run to ensure my Glycogen stores are ready to go for next week.

I'm also cooking for the girls this evening so have some prep work to do ahead of that (pictures will follow!) plus find some time to take Puppy out.

No rest for the wicked...