Duck spotting (a beginners guide) & Navigation the A-Group way “What blue tractor?”

My how I enjoyed that! It was dry for all of 10 minutes before the weather turned bad, deteriorated and then got steadily worse. I noticed that even the Waterfall Course at Mannings Heath GC was closed as I passed it while doing a passable impersonation of a Mallard in Asics. You know the saying “If it looks like a duck, walks like a duck, sounds like a duck it’s probably a Jogger doing marathon training.” However the weather is an uncontrolled variable which we must tolerate, but the terrain……..

Now I’m not criticising the map/instructions per se but I did note that Pete wisely chose the Half Moon pub at the Warninglid crossroads as the location for the 2nd water stop. This gave him the capacity to service runners arriving from all 4 possible directions. Apparently Sarah H was the only person to pass this particular initiative test and I’ve heard that she will be giving map reading lessons to A-Group at the earliest opportunity. I don’t think Horsham Joggers will be entering a team in Orienteering events any time soon. I thought that I was doomed never to see the eponymous blue tractor in the written instructions until it finally appeared on the causeway at Hammerpond towing a trailer of soggy bales. I’m guessing that this was a different tractor, how I laughed. Personally I clocked 17.9 miles (1,100+ feet of ascent) in 3 hours 2 min which I was pretty pleased with.

I also seem to be winning my battle with hunger/fatigue on the long runs and in addition to the rocket fuel I now take a chewy bar along to sustain me from 10 miles onwards. However I still can’t believe the amount I’m eating in the week. On a workday I try to take sandwiches whenever possible and usually I find I fancy a nibble around mid-morning which will see me through to lunchtime. The previous Monday was no exception but I was a little disconcerted by the looks I was given by my office colleagues as I put myself outside of my wholegrain ploughmans; the reason? It was only 8:50AM………..what a guts.

Finally, I know I’m running the risk of jinxing myself but I feel I’m coping better with the fatigue and I feel I can see light at the end of the training tunnel. Also the run-in to the big day is now mapped out for me and for the first time it all seems possible.
11th March - 18 mile club run
18th March – Silverstone Half (hoping for sub-2hours)
24th March – Legoland! Come on, give me one day off.
1st April – Worthing 20
This is then followed by the tapering runs of 14 and 10 miles. I’m getting excited, easy tiger.

Weekly total: 29.5 miles
Long run: 17.9 miles
FGI: 9

Quote of the week:
Champions aren't made in gyms. Champions are made from something they have deep inside them: A desire, a dream, a vision. They have to have last-minute stamina, they have to be a little faster, they have to have the skill and the will. But the will must be stronger than the skill. - Muhammad Ali

I’m not around Tuesday so see you all on the track Thursday.
N