Easter running

Just back from a lovely relaxing Easter break on the west coast. I needed it after a hectic week that ended even more hectically with a plaintive email from Al, in Geneva, saying that he had skied into a rock and could I come to the airport to drive him and his car home? I left him in casualty overnight before driving him, with bandaged knee, another four hours to Ardfern, about 40 minutes south of Oban.

With Al out of the running, it was tempting to cut back on my own training. He's not to do any sport for a month, so although he could probably get round the marathon at the end of May he's better off deferring his entry until next year. Maybe we'll look into an autumn marathon, like Loch Ness. But I've decided to still see if I can beat my own previous time and set a high standard for him to beat next year!

Luckily we had glorious weather for a short run on Saturday and an 18-miler - my longest run to date - on Easter Sunday. I headed down the peninsula and back (pausing to open gates a couple of times) and then headed over the back of the hill on a forestry track to emerge at Lungha and the quaint neighbouring fishing village. 18 miles took me 2 hours 52 minutes: not too bad considering the hills.

On the plus side, Al had a great time teching me up with all of his geeky equipment, allowing me to measure my pace, speed, distance, time and heart rate the whole way. How useful. Apparently I slow down and my heart rate goes up when I run up hills. It's a good job they have the technology to tell me this stuff I'd never have guessed myself...I think secretly Al was keeping an eye on me and making sure I didn't just sit in the pub for three hours!

Missed a session yesterday because a road closure before Invarary meant it took an age to get home. I'll make up for it my training through every day the rest of this week, starting with my speed session tonight.