Happily Ever After

Life in The Rural Retreat with a beautiful wife, three cats, garden wildlife, a camera, a computer – and increasing amounts about running

Earlier posts can be found on Adventures of a Lone Bass Player, where this blog began life. Recent entries can be found here.

Fooled By The Weather

by Russell Turner - 18:04 on 12 February 2018

The morning looked promising: blue sky, only a few clouds, and yesterday’s snow thawing nicely. Then I went out to feed the birds and walked into a breezy ice box, so for today’s long run – the last run of Week 7 – I wrapped up warm in my jacket, backed up by hat and gloves, and kept my neck snug with a Buff. What could possibly go wrong?

Within a mile of setting off I’d pushed the hat into a pocket. The gloves and Buff came off at the first walk break. And part of my planned route looked dangerously white, which meant a forced early detour via a steep hill I had to walk part of the way. Whether this was the fault of the incline, overdressing, or yesterday’s junk food bonanza I don’t know, but today’s long run seemed to demand much more effort than last week’s.

Maybe three 30-minute runs rather than four 20-minute ones made the difference, or maybe the uncomfortable start put me in the wrong frame of mind. Despite that, I hit 10 miles only a minute later than last Monday and finished my official two-hour run at 10.7 miles – a new record distance. I’m sure that I felt a lot fresher at the end last week. Then, because I’d miscalculated my finishing point, there was almost a mile to walk back to The Rural Retreat, which gave me an unofficial distance for today of 11.6 miles.

My legs could feel it, although they’re recovering well. Less happy are my toes, which have complained for a while about my size 12 socks. This inspired me to do some Matchgirl-style Googling, resulting in an order for two different styles of extra large (up to size 13) Hilly socks. Amazon Prime says I’ll have them on Wednesday.

Next week’s long run, at the end of which I’ll be halfway through the marathon training plan, is four 25-minute runs and four five-minute walks, with absolutely no extras allowed, probably because the following four weeks are even tougher, concluding with an epic of three hours and 16-18 miles.

Sixty-eight days to go. The Big Day is getting closer.

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