Dress rehearsal

21st October 2015
After my (to me) successful Exmoor run at the weekend I decided to give my stiff legs a workout by going spinning on Monday night. I am not sure whether it was a good idea as Andy the instructor decided to give us a hard time. I didn't use my hrm but tried to keep the cadence night, managing to keep it between 80 and 100 rpm even on the climbs. So I was tired when I got home, but legs seemed looser, I think!!
Tuesday was my last chance to do a final HPH practice run, so after a sandwich lunch and a morning reading Biff and Kipper at school I put on my running kit, made up a Tailwind drink, put a gel in my bag ( just in case) and parked at Thurlbear.
Watch set and off I went, determined to keep my speed down to 'jog' round.
After the mile on road it was the start of the 6 miles up hill to Staple Hill, it was a lovely afternoon and I soon started to sweat . I didn't see anyone in the 6 miles, the area feeling quite remote. The crafty detour below Staple hill was quite muddy and difficult going in places to avoid the worst.
I did walk up some of the hill, sipping my drink, I noticed that the 6.3 miles had taken me 1h 17mins.
I was on familiar ground as I ran across to Neroche castle, before the 2 mile descent down towards Bickenhall. I didn't run quite as quickly as last time , and felt my legs a little heavy. As I hit the road the mile to the next woods was hard, so I decided it was gel time to get me through the last 3.7 miles.
The run past the RSPCA centre was easier than last time, not so muddy and the field was clear of sweet corn.
The final Thurlbere woods was don hill but my legs were now hurting!
13.9miles  2hs 37 mins at 11m 15 s pace. It was a hard run, I was glad to get to the end!
I think I may have overdone it over the last couple of days, so it's rest now till the event on Sunday, except I have two days bikeability ( and it's raining) and I intend a 3 mile jog on Friday to test out my friend up lanes fitness to run on Sunday .
Legs ache this morning and I feel tired and stiff, hopefully I will feel better later!!