Diary Of A Road Runner

14k Long Run – Pouring with rain – 1h 22m 50s

A successful and enjoyable run – despite fact it started completely pouring down after 5 minutes, so my sunglasses went into my shorts pocket to help visibility

This was my first proper long run – I was aiming to do 12k and see how I felt, and I felt OK so I did just over 14, or just under 9 miles, in just under 1hr 23, funnily enough I managed to run 14k at what was my flat out 10k race pace just over a month ago, which is great – also this was the first run where I seemed to really get my pace right – I started off slowww, and kept resisting the temptation to think, “Hey, I feel good I’m going to speed up!” – the result was a really enjoyable run where I felt very comfortable and as if I could go on for much longer – so I had to reign myself in and stop at 14k, as it was already a lot more than I’ve run before, so didn’t want to overdo it – when I stopped my legs felt numb, I could feel the endorphins rushing round too, and although I was soaking wet and starting to get cold in the rain when I finished, I felt a great buzz at exceeding my furthest distance so far. The last time I tried a long run I had done 11k and struggled a lot – partly because it was hot, but also because I set off too fast – but I seem to be learning the value of setting off slowly (even though it wasn’t madly slow compared to my shorted run paces, it makes a big difference it seems!)

Was nice to see a couple of other runners out and exchange a friendly greeting – a woman walking her dog could have curdled milk with the look she gave me when I said hello as I passed her