Nine miles today. Sounds impressive, but it was a bad run. If it was a run at all.
The brisk 6½ miles I did on Friday won’t have helped, but I suspect it was yesterday’s annual spousal duty (stop sniggering at the back) — a day trudging round the Hampton Court Flower Show — that played a bigger part in my lack of energy and poor performance today. But there were other things.
I was out by 10 o’clock. It was already hot by then, so for the first time this year (races aside), wore a singlet and slapped on plenty of sun-block.
It’s part of the frustration, yet fascination, of running that I’m still having to experiment with pre-run food and hydration. Today, something told me to keep myself light by drinking nothing whatsoever before the run, and taking no fluid with me.
So on top of achey legs and insufficient sleep, I’d had no liquid in my system for 12 hours. Despite all this, I went for a 9 mile run on a day that was hot and sunny. Can you see where this is going?
I felt fatigued and hollow from the start, but blind optimism told me to carry on. After three miles, things got markedly worse. This was probably where dehydration was starting to kick in. At 3½ miles I had to take my first walk break. I was overheating, and my legs were shot. Walked 2 minutes, then jogged to the 4.6 mile mark (Aldermaston), where there’s a water tap outside the canal visitor centre. Glugged big water.
Entered shop, where old lady behind counter was frowning, and saying to old lady in front of counter: “It’s quite shocking really, isn’t it?”
These lines must be on some sort of chip that gets inserted into people over the age of 70.
I bought a bottle of water to take with me, but it was too late to salvage the run. The return journey was stop-start all the way. It reminded me just how different summer training is from winter. I’ve had to do this only once before — for Chicago in 2002, and I remembered how tough I’d found some of the long runs. But it wasn’t just the heat that was the problem here. It really wasn’t the cause of my problem, but it exacerbated them.
That’s it. A boring, listless report of a boring, listless run.
Must do better.
