Friday fright night

An 18K run on Friday night, shod in new Asics Gel Nimbus 11 trainers and the temperature was only 20 Degrees. I had high hopes and knew it was finish this training session or my race in two weeks was probably busted due to injury. So plenty of nerves in the lead up.

First 5K were quite quick and I was holding back a bit to try and keep a good finish in reserve, 23 minutes for 5K and I felt fresh. The 10K mark follows easily at 52 minutes. I try to keep the pace up until I get to Butte Du Lion. I'm up the hill past the nunnery and its hard hard work but I know that after that I only have one short hill right at the end. I turn left down the N5 and keep the pressure on and get a nice second wind. I manage to keep my mind from wandering and so concentrate on keeping the pace up

3K to go and I pull out the stops and try and keep the pace as high as possible. I'm looking for a 1:30 time which would be in Personal Best territory. I see with just over a Km to go I'm not going to be under the 1:30 time but I finish in 1:33:07. Thats a good time and with only limited foot pain. Average heart rate was 177 which is very high for me so I was obviously pushing it.

New trainers made a difference and although I didn't get through without some pain I certainly didn't need to stop this time. I found them a little heavier and stiffer than the Nike Zoom Vomero's I've been running with for the last 18 months. I was worried that the stiffer soles would not give me the cushioning my foot needed. However they worked a real treat and felt much more secure on my feet. I had to get a half size larger than the Nikes as they were snug in the shop. A snip at €150.......

I'm going through trainers amazingly fast. I've now got two pairs of Nike Vomero's with perfect uppers and worn out heels. I'll be building a fine collection of 'leisure' shoes if I keep the mileage up. Its a little frightening to think that something that lasts you only about 50 hours of use costs nearly 100quid.