The hills are alive with the sound of...........

Panting, feet sloshing through mud, more panting, "do we turn left or right?" and a good deal of swearing under my breath :-) Today's long run was in Sherbroke up in the Dandenongs, only 16Kms but a reasonably unforgiving 16Kms (and yes I turned the watch off for the couple of times I had to stop and walk, probably about 5 minutes in total). So this week has been all about the hills really, will be happy for a reasonably flat 20 to 22Km long run next Sunday. A stunning place to run though, and quite nostalgic because I have walked alot of the tracks we were running on throughout my childhood, I grew up in Montrose. Mum used to tell me that fairies lived in the forest there and that if I walked very quietly I might be lucky enough to spot them. A pretty quaint notion but let's face it, it was probably just her way of getting me to shut the hell up and stop asking questions for 5 minutes. I clocked up 67 Km this week (66Km) last week, I just wanted to keep the mileage pretty much the same these 2 weeks just to get the legs used to it again. But about 2 months out from the Melbourne half it is time to start building again. I am hoping to average about 70 to 80 Kms a week from here on. This is my plan for the coming week Mon - 8Km recovery pace (about 5:30) Tue - AM 6Km @ 5:10 - PM HVT session Tan seeded relay, probably only clock up 4Km Wed - 14Km @ about 5:20 to 5:30. I want to introduce a mid-week mini long run, I'll cap it at 15Km Thurs - 10Km Tempo session Fri - 10 Km easy session Sat - Rest Sun - 20 to 22 Km long run Total - 72 to 74 Km As for the other stuff, well I am working through it. I can be my own worse critic and I fell back into some bad habits this past week that just made me feel like a failure. A new week is dawning though, put it all behind me and start again. It could be worse, I could be Floyd Landis. I am so disappointed, I hate it when you support someone and it turns out they were not being honest. The man says he is innocent and knowing his background I still want to give him the benefit of the doubt (see I am more generous with others than I am with myself), but he evidence is pretty damning. I guess in his soul he is the only one who truly knows the truth.