March 2015

[marathondan]

Week 14 of 18

So, Sunday morning, a scheduled step-back long run and an ideal opportunity to road test the costume. As with five years ago, I bottled it at the last minute and decided not to run round and round my local town centre in a gorilla mask. I just can't do it. Or don't want to. So the head and hands were replaced with ski mask, thick woolly hat and ski gloves. Anyone who was reading this in great detail five years ago will recall that the suit is a rather cheap and crappy affair bought on eBay; other than the hands and head which are excellent, it's basically just a thin black tracksuit. So there was no problem wearing that part. Over the top went the charity t-shirt and a pair of baggy shorts, also bought for the purpose in 2010. 

After toast, marmalade and apple juice, I stepped out into the light rain, for three laps of my long road route. Audio was marathontalk as usual, earbuds tucked inside the ski mask. I set out at a gentle pace, 10 minute miling or so. Unsurprisingly, it took a while to get used to the heat. The wind in your face is one of the joys of running, and there's none of that. On the contrary, every exhalation is trapped inside the mask and distributed over the whole head in a warm, damp cloud. But, once you accept that's the way it's going to be, it's not too hard to settle into a rhythm.

Pace generally went faster than I was expecting. I was wary not to raise my effort level during any upward inclines, so in those stretches I dropped to around 11 min/mile. Marathontalk gave way to BBC Inside Science (boring) and then a new podcast direction for me, Danny Baker. I'm a moderate fan of his, so it's not a bad means of providing some gentle company to the lone runner on a long slow effort. A pocket full of jelly babies - one per mile - kept carb levels ticking over.

Mild fatigue set in on the last lap, and the legs began to feel a bit heavy, but with this being a low effort outing there was no call for motivational music. The rain had increased, the Scope t-shirt was soaked through and the rest of the costume was damp. With the Sausage Sandwich Game completed, I rolled up on the front drive in 2:30, 15 monkey miles in the bank, just 7 minutes slower than when I ran the route a few weeks ago in normal garb. Very happy with that.

A few costume notes:

1. Jelly babies may be a running superfood, but even they aren't indestructible. A pocketful of them in steady rain results in a syrupy mess.

2. Unpleasant chafe on my hip due to a waistband rubbing on bare flesh - I didn't notice at the time of course. Something to check when the kit is clean and dry.

3. The basic suit looks as crappy as ever. It wouldn't hurt to get a few bits of fur and stick them on the arms and legs. Even a few patches would give a suggestion of hairiness.

So there we are: the monkey is back. I will of course be running under the name of Gus, so that the psychological transformation is complete.

This week is peak week: 5 + 10 + 20. The legs already feel fresh, and my schedule is a bit clearer than usual. So it should be a good one. Then it's taper time already.

Total for March: 120 miles / 12 runs