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.
Gonna Build A Mountain
by Russell Turner - 22:04 on 20 August 2021
I used to laugh at Matchgirl’s running shoe mountain under the stairs. Now I’m in danger of building one of my own.
It’s less than seven weeks until the Loch Ness Marathon and training is taking a toll on my shoes, all Brooks Adrenaline GTS of varying vintage. I cycle through five pairs, to protect the cushioning, but their mileage is mounting. Two pairs are within jogging distance of 500 miles and one at almost 650 – good going when the running sages (and especially the running shops) say they should be replaced between 300 and 500 miles.
My oldest pair has a mere 225 miles on them, but they’re my least favourite; the newest has 243 miles, so they can be considered well run in, and are used exclusively for long runs, of which they’ve had 29. That’s not many for a shoe some would consider near the end of its life.
There are many more miles to be run before the marathon, and I don’t want to hit the start line in tired footwear, so the credit card has taken a pounding. On their way are the latest Adrenalines plus some Saucony Peregrine trail shoes I’m told I’ll need for the Dava ultra, both supplied by Run4It online with 15% off thanks to a marathon deal.
Also on their way are some snazzy Glycerins, direct from Brooks in Holland because no size 13s were to be had online and the local Run4It ignored my email enquiry. These are supposed to be the most cushiony long distance shoe Brooks do. They’d better be because there’s no discount. I could have waited longer on Run4It but time is getting on, Brexit means the shoes could take two weeks to arrive from the EU and I’ll need to run them in for a couple of weeks before wearing them for the marathon.
And there’s even more expense. To get to the marathon start line in the middle of nowhere in south Loch Ness, runners are bussed there from Inverness at 7.15am. That would mean rising before even cats are awake to breakfast, prepare and drive into town. An alternative is a B&B for the night in Drumnadrochit, a much more civilised 8.15 coach pick-up, and the bonus of a relaxed evening with Triathlon Cathy and UltraPaul who’ll also be in the village.
Whoever said that running was a cheap sport?
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