Sarah's sub 3 - part deux by Sarah_Doodge

It’s been quite a good running week for me – I’ve hit some faster paces, for me that is (some around marathon pace, some shorter sections a bit quicker).  I tend to have less raw speed than your average sub 3 marathoner, but I feel confident that I don’t match up to the standard prediction tables, so for me I’m doing ok.  Importantly my heart rate hasn’t been too high, which tells me I must still have some residual base fitness, despite a good rest and Christmas – it’s all about the positive thinking!

It’s still very dark in the early mornings. I’ve got so used to dogs wearing lights on their collars where I run, that I was surprised to nearly run into one, when I realised it was a fox! Good to see one in the park – much more attractive than the usual spotting of one looking into a bin on a street!

My husband who I usually run with, is sadly injured at the moment and according to him, the physio prescribed large amounts of homemade cake for his recovery... I’ve been happy to comply, I’m sure carrot cake with orange icing is beneficial for marathon runners in training too...

I really enjoyed my long run back on the Suffolk coast today. Suffolk’s well known for its big skies (Constable’s paintings being the common example) and I spent most of it looking at an amazing cloud! The first picture shows it at the north end of my run, the second at the south (I had to restrain myself from stopping more times to take more pictures!) – it had an amazing edge like a piece of snapped-off glacier (see the second photo, & it's also the light edge in the first photo). Great for entertaining long distance running geographers like me!

Not only did it feel great mental therapy running next to the sea, but it was good physical therapy for my perennial Achilles and shin niggles so I had a bit of an ice bath by dipping my lower legs in at the end of my run – I decided it was so cold that the potent effect of only a couple of minutes would be all that was needed!