Upping the Mileage (18 Miles)
With a 20 mile road race fast approaching we decided that we needed to get some training started. I have always been much better at trail running and the only marathons I have done to date have been off road. A switch from trail to road would be hard on the legs and a whole new challenge for me. The challenge in this case would be the pace! Road running is so much quicker than trail running - but sustaining a quick pace over this distance would be tricky. I was in good hands with my running buddy Claire- she has always been a fantastic road runner and certainly would get me round this training run tonight.
So in preparation we needed to get a 18 mile training run in. This would have been fine if I hadn't managed to over book my weekend with social events! I am struggling to say no to things! This therefore only left a Friday! Ouch - now this was going to hurt after a long week at work, but luckily Claire seemed game for some crazy late night Friday running and started to plan us an epic route.
Proposal was to do two loops in and out of Ipswich. The first anti-clockwise and the second clock-wise.
There would be no passing of either of our houses mid route - removing the temptation to quit half way round.
The route memorised I decided to split it into sections. The purpose to help my brain. I wanted to tackle small parts of the route individually. This really helped as I had targets and goals. Every time we reached a place I was working towards at a decent pace it gave me added confidence that I could make it round.
THE MAIN POINTS OF THE RUN
I loved every minute of it! Surprising I know - but running on a Friday night seemed to work for me. I had a steady pace all the way round, my legs felt great and I really enjoyed myself.
It snowed! Yes within minutes of leaving the house the snow started to fall! In some ways this was a great distraction. The first three miles saw us eating snow and barely being able to see where we were going.
We bumped into a fellow runner Richard at around 7 miles. He was also doing an 18 mile route. It was lovely to see a friendly face. A quick selfie and chat about our routes and we had to keep going before everyone seized up. It was nice to know we were not the only crazy ones out running in the snow.
Half way point came and went without too much of an issue. I was pleased that my legs continued to feel great throughout the second section of the route - especially as we had two beastly hills to take on. I was really pleased that I ran up every hill that got put in my way!
Claire nearly stacked it on some pavement, but had a great recovery and seemed to be all in one piece to continue.
We embraced our head torches about mile 11 to make sure we were seen in the dark.
Running through town on a Friday night!? - Hmmmmmm......might not be the best plan! We got quite a lot of abuse from drunken folk!
Chinese takeaways smell amazing when you are out running and are hungry!
We got back in under three hours and I was super pleased! This even included the statutory running up and down the road outside my house when we hadn't quite made it to 18 miles!
It was tough - don't get me wrong - it was a long way for a Friday night - but it was awesome at the same time. I was buzzing all evening after finishing it. With two weeks to go I am now looking forward to race day.