The good news... I ran 16 miles today. The bad news… it took a bloody long time.
On Friday morning I got up early and went out for a run… and for the first time in three weeks I could actually feel oxygen getting into my lungs... it was all reasonably pleasant. I ran approximately 5 miles, but of course I can’t be sure due to the lack of anything technical monitoring my every step.
This gave me the confidence to try to beat my 15 mile barrier today. This time I did wear my watch, as I wanted to know my distance, but I turned off both the pace and also the split times – so all I could see was the distance. The run was a tough one. Kingston Ridge, Valley of Death, back onto the ridge, Southease, Itford Hill, Glynde and then over Caburn. In total 702 metres of climbing.
However, whilst all of this is good… it took me three and a half hours to cover the distance… which was pitifully slow. The only positive I can take is that my moving pace wasn’t too bad… it was the stops that murdered it overall. The lead Moyleman guys ran an additional 10 miles in 30 fewer minutes. Good grief.
On another note, I completed my ‘200 miles in 100 days’ today. 204 miles in 85 days. I’ll take that.
September, departing summer hath assumed
