Sunday, January 11, 2009

Long Run

Been a bit lax in blogging the last few entries as not spent much time in front of the computer at home. I decided to do my long run yesterday not ideal after Friday's speedwork I know. The decision was based on the weather forecast on Friday. Sunday was looking to be strong winds and rain but a bit warmer than of late whilst Saturday was dry but cold with wind picking up.

I decided to take my chances on the Saturday as didn't fancy a long run in wind and rain. Saturday morning was very frosty, I had planned on going out at 11am but decided to hang off a bit until the frost/ice disappeared a bit. It did warm up a bit but the downside was the wind had gotten up a bit and it felt bitterly cold out in it. I expected my legs to be tired but running on tired legs is something I'll have to get used to.

My legs felt like anvils to start with not surprisingly and I found the first 4 miles quite difficult, they were also a bit more undulating than my legs wanted to deal with too. I bimbled along some new tracks for a bit of variety (exploring will keep me sane on my long runs I think) before heading into Cuerden park and doing a loop round part of it. I noticed loads of tracks heading off here there and everywhere, I need to come back for an explore soon when I don't have a mileage target to reach.

The climb out of the valley was quite tough but my legs were getting into it by then, after about an hour I had a gel though I think I could've done with taking it earlier as I felt quite depleted of energy after Friday's efforts. I found the middle six miles surprisingly good, it was a little flatter and my legs remembered how to run at a decent pace. That wore off around the 10.5 mile mark and the last two miles were on very, very tired legs (and into the headwind, not fair).

I thought I had a blister on the sole of my left foot for the last two miles as it was very sore but when I got home there wasn't one. I think my running shoes are ready for retirement, they are over a year old with 400 miles on them. Unlike my trail shoes I won't be running on them until they fall apart....so some new shoes required.

Total run was 12.8 miles at 9:40mm pace which I was surprised at, it felt slower.

I have just rested (i.e eaten lots) today though if the wind had been slightly less fierce I would have probably taken a bike out for an hours spin or so.

4 comments:

  1. Well done! I've had a 10 mile route in my head for days now that keeps being not done because of weather or other bits of life. Your long run despite tired legs and bad weather will hopefully inspire me to get mine done.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hopefully it will! I bet your run is more interesting than my mainly tarmac outing though!

    ReplyDelete
  3. good pace! pleased to see you're sticking to the plan-i'm enjoying reading about the different sessions. i really need to get some kind of training plan. everything's a bit adhoc with me.

    ReplyDelete
  4. The plan nearly killed me yesterday!

    ReplyDelete