Running like a gazelle

Two weeks of taper complete and one week left.

Last week the schedule only called for four runs - what sort of nonsense is this?

However there were some hard sessions. Doing 3 x 1 mile at 5K pace requires some effort, especially if you end up doing them as fast as you can like I normally do. My first 1 mile effort was seconds away from 6 minutes flat - fast for me!

My 12 miles on Sunday almost ended in disaster. As normal I was pushing the pace at the end, getting my average pace down to eight minutes per mile. Running fast in the dark on bumpy pavements is not very sensible and about one quarter of a mile from the end of my run I went over on my right ankle. Fortunately my joints seem to be built of strong stuff and two days later my ankle is fine. Phew!

The obscure title of this post comes from a thought I had this morning when I did 2 miles at planned marathon pace as part of a 7 mile run. 7.30 min/mile pace has never felt so comfortable and I wondered if this is how gazelles feel when they are running? Probably not.

Wed: 5 miles recovery with 6 x 100m strides
Thu: 8 miles with 3 x 1 mile at 5K race pace
Sat: 7 miles recovery with 8 x 100m strides
Sun: 12 miles slow
Tue: 7 miles with 2 at planned marathon pace.