A magnificent 7?!

  With some fellow bloggers struggling a tad at the moment  I'm a bit reluctant to over enthuse about how well things are going at the moment as we wrap up week 7. But on the other I hope reading that the calf strain I suffered at the end of November merely served to give the old body as a period of restoration and things are at present looking good for the  race season which I'm keen to start very shortly.
  With 42 miles banked week 5 and 45 week 6 I was looking to add a  couple of miles this week as long as the legs held up.  I'd arranged to cover the middle section of Sally's 20 miler today but I must admit to being somewhat apprehensive as yesterday's 4 mile jog on the field took over 40 minutes.  Very, very tired!
Mind you there was a very strong wind blowing down Wharfedale.
  I'd "earnt"  an easy day after 4 really solid days. Includng 2  outings on the trail around the res and a promising road run .   But it was THURSDAY'S track session which was the most encouraging and reassuring.
  I'm roughly working to a 4 week rotation starting with 5K down to 600 reps. So it was a chance to compare WEEK 3's  5X1K rep session with this week.  I kept the number of reps the same but hoped for better speed with another solid 4 weeks banked and despite cutting down the recovery from 2.20 to 1.30.
WEEK 3 splits        4.44    4.42    4.40    4.37    4.37.............AVERAGING 4.40  
WEEK 7 SPLITS   4.36    4.34    4.33    4.30    4.23..............AVERAGING 4.31.6

The average gives a good idea of current 10K capability at 45 minutes but knowing me with adrenalin added to solo speed something slightly faster might be a reasonable forecast. Result!
  With it being half term, I teamed up with Sally for a tour of Fewston and Swinsty.  With company and the trails  de-iced since Tuesday  again the run was encouraging as we completed the loop in just over 60 minutes.  Again result!
  So on to today.  I knew that it would take me a couple of miles to work up to Sally's 8.30 steady long run pace so she ran 6 whilst I started later and  did my slower 2.  But from that point we shared 14 miles in beautiful bright winter sunshine.  Not that the run was relaxed.   Chat being impeded by the constant threat of colliding with  well over a hundred cyclists rightly anxious to enjoy the narrow country lane as we were plus  of course the usual Sunday drivers  seemingly unaware of riders and us runners hidden behind the twisting hedgerows.
  Incidently, emphasing the comparative popularity of cycling to running, we counted just half a dozen runners in 14 miles compared to that 100 plus total for bikers.  I said to sally I am in the wrong retail business!  Should be selling cycling gear!
  Sally is continuing her Manchester marathon build up. Hence the 20 today.  The race is at the end of week 17.  Most of you know I STRONGLY BELIEVE that these long runs SHOULD NOT be executed any where near marathon pace.  To do so leaves the runner with little in the tank for the rest of the week in which at very least a hard 10K speed session has to be completed.
    Problem today was my natural inclination to wind up my last few miles. So having told her not to go under 8..00 mins pace there was I going through MY 13th penultimate mile in 7.38 but Sal was on her 17th mile!
 I have NO races entered at the moment but going through the 1/2 marathon point in approx. 1:51 certainly it looks like I could cope with that race distance at the moment.
  All I need to do is find a race that is not extortionate, does not start at 9.00 or 9.30, and is not "FULL"!
Could be a tough call.  So week 7  done and dusted.  A good track session, a 14 miler and 49 miles in the back!