Today was to be the day of the long run so last night I prepared overnight oats for slow release of energy in the morning. Although up early, we didn’t get running at Hayling Island until 9.46 but that’s not bad for us. It seemed quite cool as we drove along with the roof down, and garmin confirmed it was 17C when we started.
UpTheStanley ran with me for the first few km and then did a series of running ahead, turning round and coming back to join me like they do in running clubs. It was very busy along the trail today but cyclists were great at ringing a bell to let us know they were coming up behind us and everyone was friendly. It was good to see so many family groups walking and cycling together. A farmer was harvesting his field on the other side of the hedge and I was glad I had my sunglasses on to protect my eyes from dust in the air. We did the usual route, from the first bench on the right, down to where the Hayling Island Station would have been, touched the fence post (not sure why, but we always do) and then turn back. It’s nice and cool under the trees at the Station end but more open at the start. It was going well and I showed slightly negative splits as I progressed from the toxic 10 through the kms , from 8:17 1st km pace to 7:37 for my 8th km. I was wondering about the 15k I wanted to do and thought maybe I could go up to 16.1k to join Beachcomber66 and Sandie1961 . So it was a conscious decision to stop and get my flip bottle out and eat a few dates at 8k and walk a little. But when I started to run again my legs or my mind just didn’t want to go on. The sun had come out from behind the clouds and I was feeling very hot and a bit light headed so I decided to call it an 8k run and be happy with that. I continued the journey back to the car walking and taking in all the sights, checking out the blackberry picking potential, and admiring the dragonfly flitting from one side of the path to the other, and the acrobatic flight of the avocet. My face is glowing , despite the sports factor 30, and I feel good for having got out there.
The signs of the approaching end of summer are all too apparent with plants collapsing with the weight of their seed heads and thistle seeds bursting out into soft balls and taking flight in the gentle breeze like fairies. During my walk I picked up several pieces of litter and wondered why people think it’s ok to just dump their 7up cup complete with plastic lid and straw and their jelly babies bag. I wasn’t going to pick up the many doggy pooh bags but I wish their owners had.
So a good 8k run and the long one will probably follow when I get up early one morning and just head out from the house. There’s no urgency, as the Great South Run is not until late October.
I hope everyone else had a nice run today, and got out before it got too hot ( or is it just down south)?
No doubt UpTheStanley will be submitting his own report once he has recovered 🤣🤣
NRC ‘Another 10K Run’
Hayling Billy 5
