An ill fated enforced 9.15KM long run… Longest run of 2012 so far

Posted on Jan 29, 2012 under Long Runs, Milestones | No Comment

Had been visiting my sister earlier in the day, being entertained by my great nephew, and have had a bit of a lazy chilled weekend all told, but with 2 frantic days coming up wanted to get a run in. Was running a little late but made sure I had a pre-run snack of weetabix with golden syrup to make sure I would have some fuel, and set off planning to cover 5 miles. Thought I would try a new route which would take me in a big loop and cover about 5 miles, and I factored in a bus route in case it proved longer than I thought or if I came unstuck in any other way.

About 3k in I was reaching the point of no return (long stretch without a way back or bus route etc) when my left hamstring twinged a bit, but nothing major. As I went up the hill over the canal bridge, I started feeling a bit puffy and considered turning back. The fact this would mean an uphill slog put me off somewhat and I thought it would be best to carry on and reach the main road section where I could jump on a bus, I checked the time and seemed to be OK.

However the slope over the bridge seemed to take it out of me a bit and I stopped for few paces to recover, realising I wasn’t feeling in the best of shape for a 5 mile plus run. So I decided to make it to the bus stop on the main road going back, and catch a bus there. I actually made it that far, to find I had missed a bus by 5 minutes, and the next one was in another hour (unbenknownst to me, the half hourly timetable in my head had been changed to hourly on Sunday Evenings!). So the only thing for it was to carry on running for the next 4 or 5k… So I trotted on, past caring about my pace and just thinking about food and drink and the stuff I need to sort for tomorrow. Managed to keep going and took one or two breaks, my feet were getting a little sore but I persevered. Eventually came to a stop just before my house and had covered 9.15k in 1hr 05 minutes. Was good to run long, but might have been better with more of a plan, then again it was enjoyable in retrospect!

Is an odd route that I first ran as a 10 year old primary school boy, and took in the funeral parlour where most of my relatives have gone through, the old people’s home where my mum died, and the house where I grew up. Was interesting to run a different route, and some of the dark stretches were quite spooky. The amount of roadworks and temporary pedestrian areas is quite amazing really. Hey ho!

Until the next run, cool runnings! (I went past a place called that the other day and thought it might be a running shop, but was a Jamaican fast food place, lol!!!!!!)

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