I'm Back!

And it's just as well as Copenhagen is just over three weeks away. I actually did my first run for nearly 9 weeks on 8th August - just 3.5 miles but the important thing was it passed without incident. Since then I've been on holiday and did a 6.55 mile run in Portishead (half a half marathon!) and a couple of 7.5 mile runs in hilly Wales. The swimming I've been doing seems to have helped me retain a bit of stamina but I've still got some work to do.
I took a couple of new balls on holiday and did a few ball skills whilst away but I realised that I'm going to need to put a few miles in with them to get them in perfect race condition. Brand new balls need bedding in.
Club night at Petts Wood Runners was hard work this week. I ran in group 9, up from group 6 that I ran in before I went on holiday which I found a little too easy. I usually run in group 10 but I'd never keep up at the moment. It was really hot this week and I wasn't the only one that found the heat a challenge. I think I'll stick with group 9 again next week.
I've been doing lots of strengthening exercises that my physio gave me and they've been really helpful. My hamstrings are much better now and I'm trying to build up my glutes as there's really not much to speak of in that area.
I'm putting together all my race gear ready for Copenhagen and yesterday went out for a quick dress rehearsal in everything I'll be running in in 3 weeks time. I have a new top and shorts and tried to get some wear into those new balls with 3.38 miles round Norman park. I also had 4 little flags in my hydration pack that I wanted to make sure weren't going to interfere with my running. I bought 2 Union Flags some time ago so that other runners in Denmark would know I was British. I found at Silverstone that I attracted a lot of attention and people would comment and chat to me so I figured flying the Union Flag would stop people trying to talk to me in Danish. I'm happy to talk to people (briefly) but I'd rather not have to start every conversation with "I'm sorry, I'm English". And on that theme, following 23rd June I felt the need to buy a couple of European Union flags because I don't want 20,000 Danes to think I'm a triumphant Brexiteer.
I don't have the data with me but I know I managed the 3.38 miles in less than 9 minute miles. It was quite hard work but I'm putting a lot of that down to the extreme heat as the last lap got a little easier as the sun went down and I wasn't running in direct sunlight.
Hopefully it will be a little cooler this coming week so I can comfortably put in some longer runs. I'd still like to finish Copenhagen in under 2 hours but it will be close. I'll be able to call that one better in a couple of weeks.

Flying the flag(s)