A fast long run (with my Garmin)

18M crescendo long run at 6.30 (0-6M), 5.55 (6-12M) & 5.15-5.40 (12-18M)

My Garmin has been in a bad way for a while. The strap broke just before Odense, so I had to race with it taped on. Then it stopped recharging. I was on the point of getting a new one when it woke up last week.

So this was my first Garmin-timed long run in this marathon build-up. It was definitely better than any I managed last year. And it was run off 5 hours sleep and a pre-bed Yazoo plus some sips of Lucozade.

As usual, I took a couple of miles to find my rhythm. But by the second segment, it didn't require too much to pick it up to 6min/M. In fact, I'm confident it felt easier than last spring, when I definitely had to consciously get more onto my toes.

By the transition to the third segment I was feeling it a bit in my quads (though it wasn't pain, just pressure, and my breathing was easy). I stepped on it from there - initially for a couple of miles along the river and then uphill and across various thoroughfares up to Dartmouth Park. I haven't got a great feel for how fast this segment will be, but it's definitely uphill. And fairly steeply so in parts. But I was pleased with my pace. I had figured at hitting 5.30ish, bit ran the first (flat) couple at 5.15. And then averaged about 5.40 for the rest. Really pleased. I was liberated by the uncertainty of the final 4 miles. I just ran hard, without caring what the watch might say. I was really huffing from St Pancras and was pretty much gone on the final uphill stretch up Highgate Hill. Good stuff.

A light week now ready for the National Cross-country Championships on Saturday on home turf at Parliament Hill.

Oh, and I fly to Ethiopia next Sunday! Can't wait.