With just 4 weeks to go to the New York Marathon, the countdown has begun, engines pulling back for a bit…….
It’s always a funny old time once you complete that last long run and you start to ease back towards event day. That familiar feeling of have I done enough? Should I put another long run in next week? 

Being a scientist I, try and calm myself by looking back through my run log, and I can see 2 runs of 18 miles, 2 of 17 miles and 2 of 15 miles in the last 7 weeks. So yes, job done – the distance is there. Maybe a couple of 20-mile runs would have been nice, but as always balancing the pounding through my ankle/ Achilles heal, and the recovery time for that after a long run, with additional distance is tricky. The next few weeks I will instead pull back on distance and see if I can work on my speed a bit. 

I have loved the training this time around. I feel I have really truly rediscovered the joy of just running. Is it’s due to running through the summer perhaps? Maybe, but I put it down to running with friends again. 

 

• My love hate relationship with the running club as progressed to a point where I almost look forward to those hard Thursday night runs and the catch up with the team that have made me so welcome there. And I have loved discovering the beautiful trail routes through the countryside
•   I have reconnected with a running friend from some years back and we have slogged through some long runs. 
• My long distance relationship with Gary is going well and when we can we have planned long runs together. He has done fantastically since deciding as an almost non- runner to enter NY with me, infact he easily out runs me these days.
• Now that the temperature has cooled Roxy is able to run again and we have enjoyed some short runs along the canal, on the look out as always for loose sandwiches from the fisherman and slow moving ducks 
• I have traveled a lot with work and discovered how many of my colleagues including my boss, run too. Together we have been pounding out 5 Km runs across Europe before work each day. It’s almost become part of the working schedule and our jobs not done until we have posted a run on Strava. 

But Best of all was the St.Albans meet up of the real buzz team and a chance to run with so many of you again. 
I have been fortunate enough to run marathons, shoulder to shoulder with so many of you, danced across half way points and been privileged enough to cross the finish line hand in hand with a few of you. We’ve run park runs together, we’ve stood on the curb line in support of others together. We’ve shared highs and lows of our running escapades in our blogs, that would bore any non runner.  And so, the opportunity to meet up is always something I look  to . And what a fantastic morning in St. Albans that was – a lovely run, a great catch up with good friends

Yep – running in company has been great. Running with the Real Buzz team is better.

Happy running everyone, and good luck to everyone else also in count down mode.

Jane x x