Long Saturday run

It's been a busy week at work and I seem to have spent most of the week having big business lunches or dinners with different business contacts this week.


I got up this morning and knew that I'd put on wait what with the dining out and the lack of training. There was only one solution - a long Saturday run without breakfast and burn into the fat reserves that had built up.


I grabbed an orange juice from the kitchen before I left and then headed outside into a cool, bright morning. I had decided to run 2 loops of the usual Sunday run course, intending to run just over 22km to get back into some long run training since it was now almost 2 weeks since the marathon. I intended to run these fairly easily, working my way back into it and just seeing how I would fare.

I headed up the road towards the forest, my head full of thoughts about work and the tasks that lie ahead. In fact, it was a combination of early morning tiredness and preoccupation with the job that meant that I ran 2 km before really waking up and seeing how I was doing. The recent rain didn't help either as the horse track in the forest was very heavy underfoot and it was a bit of a slog avoiding the largest puddles and the heaviest, sandiest areas. As soon as that section was over, I stretched out a little and enjoyed the sunlight filtering through the trees.

I felt very easy all of the first loop and I knew that I was running well. I passed Thierry Mazoyer from the club on his morning run and we encouraged each other as we passed. I managed the first loop in 48:30 so it was confirmed that I was running well. With Nick we usually do this in around 48 minutes but this time I'd run an extra 1 km to get to the forest to begin with.

The second loop was harder than the first. I could feel that my legs were tiring now and a few niggles began to show themselves: a tension at the top of the right thigh in the groin area and a sore left foot, convincing me that as soon as I have a few euros (that the tax man doesn't grab from me - as is his wont in France at the end of the year), I will invest in a new pair of trainers.

Despite this, I carried on and went though the half-marathon mark in 1:29:40. I was thrilled as I was still running at my marathon pace in training. I must surely be capable of going sub-3 with a little more endurance ! I got back home in 1:36:29 for 22.7 km - an average of 4:13 per km or 14.1km/h. Felt good then; shattered now !