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.
Battered By The Elements
by Russell Turner - 17:18 on 07 February 2022
It’s no surprise that my autumn marathon times are all better than my spring ones – training in winter is hard. (Although, as all my best half marathon times have been in April, there may be other factors to consider.) Today’s eight miles were particularly tough.
After two late-finish gigs I’d looked forward to at least forty winks last night. It was not to be. Sleep was elusive and spasmodic and I can’t even blame cats, who mostly left me alone. It was Just One Of Those Things. Combined with today’s chill wind (25mph according to Garmin), I knew that the Week 4 long run would be a challenge.
The first mile-and-a-half, downhill and then flat, was an easy-paced doddle. Then I turned at the end of the first out-and-back and was hit in the face by the wind. At least it didn’t contain the ice crystals that pelted me yesterday when I ran an easy 30mins (downgraded from the 45mins mixed demanded by my training plan because I was still recovering from the gigs – the fact I got out at all was a triumph). I battled the headwind for almost a mile before turning on to another road where it was behind me.
I’d almost two miles to recover before retracing my weary steps, this time into the wind and slightly uphill. I’d considered a break at halfway and rejected the notion because walking in the blow risked hypothermia – the ‘feels like’ temperature was 2ºC and my windproof jacket did keep out the wind but also kept in the sweaty damp. The seventh mile was wind-assisted; the eight mile, plus an unrecorded half-mile cooldown walk, was not. I’m sure I was less tired at the end of my 50k.
However, it was done, and I’d improved my meagre mental fortitude score by running the whole eight miles without a break or a walk. The wind is forecast to still be with us on Wednesday, with the added bonus of sub-zero ‘feels like’ temperatures, when I have intervals to run. What joy. After that they ease up a little, which is just as well: the next long run is 10 miles.
It’s all relative, though. Recent posts in the London Landmarks Facebook support group have included ones from runners panicking because the furthest they’ve ever run is 10k, or who are aiming for a three-hour finish, or who fear they’ll hit the four-hour cut-off and miss their train home. Others, of course, have already done 1:45 in training and aim to be even faster on the day.
I’ll be starting in the 2-2:15 wave but hoping for a sub-2 finish if training, weather, course and occasion all come together. Time will tell.
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