With five weeks till the London Marathon, I ran 31.3 km this morning, my longest run yet, in 3h14.
It snowed almost throughout but fortunately only very light, but the wind was gale-force so with the temperature below freezing (the Met Office said a “feels like” temperature of minus nine) it felt pretty chilly on my face but the rest of me was lovely and snug, wearing three layers on top (first time), leggings under trousers (first time) and a scarf/bandana (first time) and hat, with just the one pair of thick gloves.
About a third of the run was on tracks and footpaths, and much of that was the really exposed bit including along the top of the river wall for a few kilometres which was right into the face of the gale, but giving some expansive views.
For my longest run, this was surprisingly easy, all the more so in less than ideal conditions with lots of extra clothing (albeit that I wasn’t pushing the pace), and with the second half almost two minutes faster than the first, so I was really pleased.
I realised afterwards that my little out-and-back foray towards Hemley was longer than planned (I mustn’t have noticed my watch beeping to tell me I was off course) so the run was 31.3km rather than the planned 30.3km. That didn’t really matter except that as I neared the expected distance on my Garmin watch, there was no sign of the car and it gradually dawned on me that I still had some way to go – that last kilometre was therefore a bit harder mentally than it needed to be.
This was less than 7 miles short of the marathon distance, and for the first time me finishing successfully is no longer an abstract concept but something I can now visualise myself doing.
Bawdsey and Felixstowe Ferry
