Time of day: 09:00
Distance: 12.6 miles
Terrain: Offroad - hills/ downland
Conditions: Dry, cold, muddy/ wet underfoot - strong Northerly wind
Duration (run time): 02:07:00
A repeat of last Sunday's run, except this morning a cruel, biting Northerly wind awaited as we gathered, shivering, above Brighton Marina.
I was feeling a little delicate - not sadly following a good night on the town, rather due to an upset stomach and, as a result of Phoebe suffering the same, a disjointed night's sleep. Still, I felt confident that I could complete the scheduled 12+ miles.
As the 30+ runners awaited the start (this group grows each week) I calculated the areas of the run where the wind would bite hardest. Unfortunately this would be the 3/4 mile climb from the seafront up Telscombe Tye, and at least part of the Snake, our mile+ climb to the top of the downs. With this is mind and in view of my poor night's rest I determined to set off at easy pace. Within 30 minutes I was leading the group on our warm-up along the clifftops, finding the hill climbs easy going and pushing the pace on the up-slopes. I do have a serious pace management issue, one I must address or lose any hope of making significant progress in April.
The serious inland climbs proved testing for the pack, and our gang of four from last week broke away. I have to say the wind was bitter. I've never run in gloves, but I saw a need this morning and will invest next week - my hands were blue, and I resorted to withdrawing my hands inside the sleeves of my windcheater. Not being the most stylish exponent of the off-road run this hardly impeded my progress, but I must've looked pretty funny, not that my co-runners could care less. Heads down, teeth gritted against the icy blast, we battled across irregular, water-logged farmland and rock-strewn access paths.
SP made an interesting observation last week. During our run to Black Cap on Thursday he opined that the problem with running in beautiful countryside along potentially treacherous terrain was one had little opportunity to enjoy the view. His point was proven today, as the combination of stong winds and slimy footholds threatened injury at every turn.
I read somewhere that sliding - as in the little sideways slips your feet make on loose ground as you land each footstep - can cause micro-tears in your groin and legs. If that's accurate I probably need serious nanobot attention. Our female companion observed the downhill sections were like skiing - she was grinning like an eedjit as she raced past me, sharing this view, as I feared a fatal tumble.
My problem (as is SPs) with this kind of running is (apart from loving it
) I have suffered horrible injuries playing football by 'rolling' my ankles. This is where your standing or landing foot gives way (usually to the inside) and the bottom of your leg hits the ground. Yes, it really is that nasty. It's a 6 week minimum lay-off, so not something you can recover from at this stage of your training.
With memories of spaghetti-like ligaments to the fore I eased up as conditons on the final part of our run deteriorated further. We splashed through muddy puddles of undetermined depth, sliding on the exits with no room on either side. I let the other three pull away. They're younger, and perhaps have no history of such horrors to inhibit their progress. In any event, I reasoned, a couple of minutes on my finishing time (which is more or less irrelevant at this stage) beats 6 weeks on crutches by a (soggy) country mile.
I got in at 02:07 - running time, I stopped the watch at our catch-up points when I'd got my breath and was ready to set off - which all things considered was fine. We deviated our run-in, swapping the eminently sensible (paved) Wilsons' Avenue for the Brighton Racecourse gallops. This added to our distance by a paltry 0.2 miles - had we taken the new route we were supposed to it would have added 1.4 miles - and was not in my view worth the gamble. All's well that ends well, as they say.
My usual endorphin rush was tempered by the cold and the hangover from the concentration on the terrain. On reflection I'm happy with the run and looking forward to some warm-weather training with the RC team in Almeira in 6 days' time
JANUARY 2005 - Back in Action
