The long weekend, part 2

Today I ran 20 miles.  I spent yesterday afternoon feeling washed-out and wondering how I'd make it around another long one today.  I felt stronger this morning but before I set off I was still feeling quite apprehensive.

I needn't have worried - it was a fabulous run.  I felt good all the way round - so much so that I put in a little extension at the end to make it a round 20 miles.  The highlight was running along the crest of Dean Hill.  The weather today has been very mixed, with sun and some sharp showers, but I got fabulous views over Southampton and the New Forest to the South and chalk Hampshire/Wiltshire downland to the north.

So why was today so much better than yesterday?  I didn't get that greyness, that cloud of numb weariness which dogged me for the last 30 minutes yesterday and for most of the day afterwards.  I can only put it down to the fact that I set off at midday rather than 9am yesterday, and had eaten a decent breakfast first.  A very useful bit of learning there.

Training this week will be a bit patchy - I have a long day in Plymouth tomorrow and then a 2-day jaunt to Manchester Wednesday and Thursday, so I'll have to grab time when I can.  I'm very pleased though - this week I have run 64 miles - over 100k.  It's going to get gentler over the next 2 weeks before the Herts Stroller on 11 August.

The long weekend, part 1

This weekend marks the zenith of my training before the Herts Stroller in 2 weeks.  At 53 miles, this event is my longest by some way (my previous longest being the 31-mile Dorset Doddle which I did in 2002).

Today I did an 18-miler taking in Kimbridge, Braishfield, Slackstead, Ampfield, Romsey then home.  The going was warm, with plenty of stinging nettles, brambles and still some boggy patches underfoot.  I was wearing my road shoes which was probably the right choice but I was flailing like mad in Squabb Wood.  I was drained at the end, and feeling a little bit apprehensive about the 20 miles I'm planning to do tomorrow.  This will mean 64 miles running and 30 miles on the bike this week, which is really pleasing.  I'm feeling well, and looking forward to the tapering phase before the Stroller (on 11 August)... i.e. sitting around more and stuffing myself with food.

I'll report on tomorrow's adventure...

RR10, Janesmoor Pond, 18 July

For various reasons - mostly work and school governor commitments - this was only my second RR10 race this year.  Janesmoor Pond is always soft underfoot, but after all of the rain that we've had over the previous 6 weeks it was a glorious mudfest.

This race was a bit of a wildcard for me because I had run in to work and back that day, a round trip of about 15 miles, and only had about 40 minutes at home before I had to put my wet trail shoes on again.  I wasn't feeling too weary but I had used up a lot of energy as the Test Way was a real swamp and for long stretches of it every step was a contest of leg v mud.

I was a bit late getting to Janesmoor Pond and I had to trot down the hill to the start.  I think I'd become fairly inured to the mud; others were delicately navigating the boggy bits and I got a couple of annoyed noises when I bimbled down, fairly careless of the mud and sending some splashes up.  Get used to it, guys, I thought.

The race was a mixture of gravel track - reasonably firm underfoot - and unmade routes, which were anything but.  I felt OK, although after 15 and then 20 minutes went by I was getting very confused by not recognising familiar ground - RR10 courses are almost always laps.  In fact we did a snaky route which never retraced old steps.  Once I'd figured this out I was mentally more sure, but I tired in the last 5 minutes and 3 runners overtook me on the slope up to the top.  I was done for at the finish and lay gasping on the grass for a while... but I was absolutely chuffed to finish in 15th place, my best RR10 position for a couple of years.

Here are a couple of photos of the race:
Here I am chasing a Lordshill runner (and looking a bit scary)

While this one gives a sense of the mud.

All good clean fun!