Portugal Training Camp - Part 3

Day 8

The alarm went of at 5.30am. Yes, on a Saturday, on holiday. Berocca and Muesli were consumed and running kit put on, groggily. We’d had another good training talk the previous evening, with a variety of topics discussed, including the ultimate question “How do I stop thinking about running!!” I received some great advice about my training and ways to make subtle changes to make things work even better.

In order to do our long run in relatively cool temperatures, we were going to start at 6.30am. The plan was to run easy about 5 miles, into Villamora, and then complete various numbers of a 5km loop around the old golf course, depending on what race you were training for. The Marathoners had 4 loops to do, whilst us HMs were to do two loops. Nick wanted us to do the first loop at just below race pace, and most of the second loop at race pace, with the last 1km pushing it about race pace. Then it would be an easy 5 miles back to the hotel pool for the customary dip.

After leaving the hotel to the tune of Purple Rain *argh earworm* I worked hard to zone in on myself. My pace was going to be a lot different to most of the people I was running with, and so I had to make sure I was okay on my own, had when you’ve hard group training all week. My mental strategies worked and I found myself in a good place in my head. What was going on around me didn’t matter.

Nick had driven our drinks and gels over to the loop so we didn’t have to worry about carrying stuff, a real bonus. When we arrived in Villamora, Nick pointed us in the right direction to begin the loops, there wasn’t any hanging around.The loop started with a climb of about 1km and then dropped back down quite quickly. The area was beautiful and the sprinklers on the lawns make everything nice and cool. A couple of people were settled in just ahead of me and mentally I was keeping myself calm and them at a constant distance. The loop seemed to fly by and soon I was back at the aid station. I doused my neck in a bit of water and took a gel. We’d been told not to take the gel all at once and so off I went agai, ingesting it over about 10 minutes. I struggled to digest the gel going uphill so I waiting until the climb was over before finishing it. Having it my hand was a useful distraction to be honest, and psychologically it was giving me energy all the way. The guys in front had taken their pace up and had disappeared by this point, but I stayed calm. My pace felt about right and I’d already marked the point at which I was going to take the pace up for the final push. It came round soon enough and push I did. Trying to take it to threshold to finish, It felt great, really great. I’d purposefully not allowed myself to look at the Garmin, so I had no idea how it was going, judging it by feel. When I got back to the aid station I was on top of the world. Everything had gone to plan and I’d been given a big confidence boost for race day. Nick told me to take a gel and I ‘ambled’ back to the Hotel with Steve (Note: He ambled, at 7:30, not much of an amble for me, more like close to bloody race pace!)

The pool welcomed me with open arms, we’d done 14 miles in total, but Steve was right when he commented that it hadn’t felt like a long run. When everyone got back, we all celebrated in the best way possible. Massive Greasy-Spoon Fry Up at the Caff down the road! I’m talking 2 fried eggs, 2 sausages, bacon, beans, chips and 2 rounds of toast.

This week is helping me get over my food guilt, but it will be a long process. Yes, believe it or not I do feel very guilty about food. But that’s a story for another time.

Steve left this afternoon, so the room feels quiet and a bit empty. You get used to having someone around pretty quickly. He was a great roommate, and I *fingers crossed* don’t think I did anything embarrassing.

Right dinner time, its been at least and hour since I’ve eaten something *sigh*

I’m gonna leave Portugal there. I was going to do a big conclusion section, but in reality I still haven’t worked it all out in my head yet. I have learnt so much about myself this week, and pushed myself in ways I never thought possible. The biggest compliment I can give is that I cannot wait for the next camp in June. Many thanks to the amazing amount of work put in by Nick and Phoebe during the week, and infinite thanks to the RWU crewmates, you’ve enriched my life immensely. It’s lovely to know that even if I’m not in North London, I’m not running alone.