With the excitement of Friday’s news of the 2018 London Marathon place still simmering away (indeed, perhaps on a more active boil), and with the previous weekend’s 10-mile PB at the Lee Valley Velopark also not gone away, I perhaps got a bit carried away with this morning’s run.
When a route from Norton through Pakenham and Stowlangtoft was first considered, it was about 15km, but in planning last night, I looked at an extension to the north to make it up to half-marathon distance.
I set off knowing that I could have the choice, but really wanting to do the HM distance. Added to that danger was that I had to make the choice around 8km, at which point I was still feeling fresh. I turned left rather than going straight on, committing myself to the longer distance.
This did give me the opportunity to discover the hamlet of Langham which I’d never visited before, but as I approached 16km I started to struggle, and by 17.5km was finding it very hard indeed, and there was a fair bit of walking towards the end. I did find the strength to turn off my shortest route to visit another map square, and then to run past the car for another 300 metres to get to the full 21.1km.
It was really too big an increase in distance for me to expect to be comfortable, and then I tried to do it too fast in the circumstances, but nevertheless it was a good feeling to have succeeded.
I was passed by 12 cars and a motorbike, and passed a deer, a pheasant, two rabbits, three dog-walkers (with seven dogs), and two dog-free walkers.
Post-run thoughts:
- I need to find a way to take on board water and potentially fuel during long runs. I’m going to look at running backpacks with hydration pouches, but do I still then need a belt for easy access to other items while running?
- From Christmas onwards I will be doing a run of 13 miles or more almost every week as I head towards VMLM on 22 April. What was the pinnacle of my running distance-wise, and is still the longest I’ve ever run, will need to become routine.
- I need to find a way not to get rubbed on my lower back/upper bottom by my sweaty shorts
- With the exception of those sore spots on my back, post-run impact was pretty modest. This is good, and is encouraging me to consider more long runs this year before I get to the more intense 16-week lead-in to the VMLM.
- I mustn’t get carried away too quickly. My body is still better geared to shorter running at the moment. My training focus should be the London 10-mile in Richmond Park in June.
