Round and about

Beautiful blue sky. Not a cloud in sight. Still cold early morning though with the thermometer stubbornly stable at 7°C at 9:00 am.

Laurence had decided that she wanted to finish the 20km round that she hadn't managed the other day after our "discussion". We took the car out to the 10 km spot where we had split up the other day and started off from there. I stayed with Laurence to begin with as the route is not that well indicated. We did the first hills around Belbex easily and I was happy to run at a very easy pace, just ahead of Laurence. After about 2.5 km Laurence told me to leave her and to run at my own pace as I was stressing her. This was quite a shock as I hadn't said anything to her up until that point. No comments on the pace, on her objectives, even about the weather, but my sheer presence was enough to stress her; so I left.

This second half of the route is the hilliest section, with the roads going up and down interminably and it's very steep in places. So steep that the temptation to give up and walk is tremendous. I kept on (and so did Laurence as she told me afterwards) and I ran the first 10 km in about 52 minutes. Towards the end of this section the roads were flatter and I lengthened my stride to a pace that I still felt comfortable with but left me with an impression of "real" running.
The sun was now higher in the sky and the temperature had risen to around 22°C.

The second half was completed at a faster pace but the fatigue and the heat were taking their toll on me by the end. I kept thinking that this distance wasn't even a half-marathon and how would I cope having to carry on for double the distance. Obviously, these thoughts weren't very encouraging and I was happy to run through the park and by the stables to find the car after 20km. 1:39:03 all up for the distance so a little over 12 km/h for the whole route. Not bad considering the heat and the hills. I was pleased with my run.