Time: 1.40pm Weather: Sunny intervals, cold, very damp, snow patches. 8°C
If I was organised I'd be dangerous.
It's time that I inflicted one of my rambling monographs on the marathon forum.
Today started OK-ish. Yesterday evening I'd been out for a walk in a pair of shoes I hadn't worn for a while. They're newish but I've worn them many times before. However, they annoyed my ankle which was sore all evening. Ice and heat helped a little, but what helped most was sleep. When I woke up this morning I was resigned to not running today, but the ankle was fine.
It had snowed overnight and was bitterly cold out earlier this morning. I did some chores first. Empty dishwasher, prepare the slow cooker (beef in ale: beef skirt, carrots, onion, mushroom, packet sauce, tomato paste, bottle of Old Tom strong ale), late breakfast.
Oh no! My shoes are still in the washing machine and are wet. I hang them by their laces from the towel rail over the radiator. I do have brand new shoes of the same style that I'm going to start using soon as these are getting towards the end of their life, but after yesterday's ankle thing I'm extremely reluctant to wear brand new shoes for a long run.
I gather my kit together. I've decided to go with the winter kit (two long sleeved tops, compression leggings, shorts, gloves and hat) and also some new compression socks that I got recently. (This might have been a bad move.)
I also wore some thin liner socks underneath the longer socks. I've been developing a couple of blackened toenails and didn't want them to get any worse.
The shoes are mostly dry. Just the tongue is damp. I go "stuff it" rationalizing that I'd not notice that through two pairs of socks.
It's then that I notice that my headphones haven't been charged. I put them on charge for 20 minutes. I'm finally in my running gear. And then the doorbell rang.
It's the tree surgeon guy I got in last year to get rid of a eucalyptus pot plant that had turned into a tree taller than the house. I'd actually been meaning to give him a call. There's a self-seeded sycamore at the back that needs to come down, and a rowan at the front that needs trimming to half its height. We agree a price and he says he'll do the tree at the front today and the stuff at the back later in the week.
Finally I get out the door! I've planned for ten miles today but am prepared to stop if necessary. It's warm in the sun but chill out of it. There are patches of snow still present in the shade.
I walk up the hill to the post office to warm up for 5 minutes. Then I start to jog.
0km - 6'29"/km - I start at too fast a pace again. The road is straight and very slightly downhill. It's difficult not to go quickly on it. It's quite exposed to side winds but the sun is out.
1km - 6'30"/km - More of the same, then the motorway roundabout, then a slight climb to the fire station. I'm still working through the Toxic Ten. It's lingering a little longer today.
2km - 6'47"/km - Past the park, among houses, then a narrow pavement with a horrible side slope. The road's too busy and narrow to run in it. Round the corner with the church and then down past the repurposed mill and the level crossing for the preserved railway.
3km - 7'05"/km - Slightly downhill past the council recycling base, then onto the recent housing estate on the rubbish dump. A girl on her trike scooter pulls out in front of me. A mother is fixing some ramp type contraptions for her daughter to cycle on. I didn't linger to investigate but did bid her good afternoon. In front of one of the houses, in the shade, there was a snowman, replete with hat and scarf. Down into a dip and up the other side. There's a walking group with a dog and a runner fussing with it coming the other way. I pass by them all, with a greeting, and then onto the clay path.
4km - 7'12"/km - There are a few puddles on the clay path but it's not as bad as I expected. It's a bit quieter than previous times, but there are still some people on it. At the end of the path it turns into a road with a bit of a climb.
5km - 7'02"/km - And then it levels out a bit but continues to climb a little. A couple walking towards me move to the side to let me pass. It never ceases to amaze me that people move out of the way when I approach. Maybe it's the fluorescent yellow top. Another short climb and across the busy main road and then on to the canal towpath.
6km - 7'28"/km - The towpath is busy today. It's Sunday and there's a bit of sun, so I shouldn't be surprised about that. Dog walkers, family groups, couples, single people and lots of cyclists. Several locks, a couple of bridges, an underpass with pontoon bridge for the path.
7km - 7'07"/km - A long level bit on the towpath. Still busy. The Canada geese are getting a little "frisky" and showing mating behaviours. I plod on.
8km - 7'20"/km - Some more locks with cobbled paths through them. I have to pick amongst the stones to avoid twisting my ankle. Eventually the path levels out. Several houses back onto the canal and have little areas where each has extended to have a little extra garden on the canal shore. They probably don't own this land. A man is working in one of these areas, stands up and looks in my general direction. I wave and shout good afternoon to him and he replies.
9km - 7'17"/km - The towpath is level. I decide to have one of my jelly babies. And then there's another lock and it drops down again. The surface of the towpath changes and there are some puddles again. Under the railway again, another series of locks and more cobbles.
10km - 7'43"/km - This bit's popular with people, as usual. There's another series of locks and then a curved aqueduct which takes the canal over a river. The local parkrun is held in a park near here. A bit further on a pub is above the canal. I can hear music coming from it. A runner approaches and we exchange thumbs-ups.
11km - 7'19"/km - The canal goes under a main road and alongside the vinegar factory. The smell isn't that noticeable today. Some days you can smell it from miles away. This bit always is a bit damp underfoot. Another jelly baby. The sun comes out and I'm getting a little warm.
12km - 7'56"/km - Last bit of canal. It drops through another lock and the towpath goes round what must once have been a spur, then up to a road with a lift bridge. I continue onto the road, under the railway again, up a slope and down again to the traffic lights outside the brewery. Left at the lights then down and up and right into the "garden village".
13km - 7'35"/km - Slow plodding though the roads amongst the houses. An Asda delivery guy is putting crates back in his van. I shout a "good afternoon" and he waves. There's a closed pub which doesn't look as if it's made any preparations to reopen for outside sales tomorrow. I take another two jelly babies about now.
14km - 7'42"/km - More plodding amongst houses, past a primary school. Past the medical centre and community centre. I cut a corner by going between a church and its church hall. Then onto the "millionaires' row" of big houses on a dual carriageway with a wide central grassed area (with the main sewer running down the middle). As I turn into this road it tries to snow weakly with snow pellets for about a minute.
15km - 7'26"/km - Right at the end and slight uphill on the main road. I'm feeling really tired and my legs are moaning. There's not much left to do. The main road crests and then starts on its long descent into the centre of town. I accelerate a little.
16km - 5'45"/km (340m) - The last bit of ten miles. My pace quickens with the assistance of the hill. I continue past the ten mile point and don't stop until I reach the bottom of the hill.
Today was hard going. I stop the watch and restart it, logging the cool down walk separately.
Another couple of jelly babies. The walk back home is hard, but it's a mile well spent.
The stretches are absolutely essential today. I do them whilst the coffee is brewing. My legs are complaining a lot.
When I eventually flop in a chair, having changed out of my running kit and put it in the washer, I can feel things stiffening up.
Stats:
Duration: 2h 20m overall (1h 58m running)
Distance: 18.50 km overall (16.35km running)
Splits: as above
Average running pace: 7'16"/km
10 mile time: 1h 56m 04s. This is 50 seconds slower than my first attempt.
The watch is not as harsh on this run as I'd expected. My VO₂Max stays 43 (but drops from Excellent to Good) and my fitness age gets older by three years from 27 to 30.
Today's podcasts: Mitch Benn's Crimes Against Music (Series 2 Ep1), Between Ourselves with Marian Keyes (Adulthood), You're Dead To Me (The Asante Empire) and The Curious Cases of Rutherford and Fry (A Weighty Matter Pt 1).
It was hard today. My legs felt tired for most of the run. I suspect I had a bit too much compression on the lower legs and it was affecting the blood flow. I'll not make that mistake again. I'd probably overdressed a little too, as the weather got slightly warmer suddenly when the sun came out.
The other mistake I'm not going to make is to neglect to walk the day after, no matter how stiff my legs feel. I made that mistake last time that I did ten miles. I got cocky on the following short run two days later and angered my ankle a bit.
My plans for next week are: rest day (walk) tomorrow, a slow easy loop run on Tuesday morning, rest day Wednesday, intervals run on Thursday, easy loop on Friday, rest Saturday and 18k on Sunday. This all depends on how quickly I recover from today's run.
Now to do another round of stretches...
Reached 10 miles target!
First 10 miles, and I'm over the moon!
10 mile long run🏃🏽♀️😀👍
1st 10 miles this morning! 😀
