Skiathos

Apologies for the lack of blog updates. Basically I made no attempt to get on the world wide super highway whilst I was on holiday...

Here's a quick snapshot of what happened. Arrived in Skiathos and stayed in a quiet resort called Troulos Bay (highly recommended). An extremely nice resort but it was quickly apparent that any serious running was going to be difficult. The temperatures were way too hot (30 degrees plus), and the terrain was very hilly (read mountainous). I tried to get out there and do a bit but it was more to sweat out excess alcohol as opposed to getting any serious training benefit. Here are my efforts and all distances are approx:

Fri - a 9km out and back run to Banana Beach (40:22) - very hilly

Sat - a 9km out and back run to Aselinos Beach (41:18) - less hilly

Sun - a 13km out and back run to the Monastery (59:54) - this was my attempt at a longer run but without water I daren't risk going further than an hour. The climb up to the Monastery was one of the toughest climbs I have ever done - at least 10 minutes of shuffling up a steep hill.

Mon - a 9km out and back run to Aselinos Beach (39:59)

Tue - a 3km warm-up, 4 x 1 miles off 90 seconds, 3km down. All up 12.4km. I was running in my heavy joggers, I was dehydrated, it was too hot, my times were painfully slow. Nuff said.

Wed - a 9km out and back run to Aselinos Beach (40:41)

Thu - a 9km out and back run to Aselinos Beach (40:54). Midway through I stopped do run 6 x 200m efforts. All up 10.2km.

Fri - a rest day before Saturday's half. Fly back to Gatwick in the afternoon feeling pretty ordinary after another big night on the sauce. Head on to Stansted in preparation for a connecting flight to Ireland in the morning. Stay in a hotel and manage 4 hours sleep.

So that was my Skiathos training in a nutshell. Not ideal preparation for the half...