ten point five (one)
10.51 miles. Ten point five one. 16.91km.
We ran, we walked, we sat on a roadsign and had a rest. We stretched, we moaned (alright, I did – Zoe is more stoic than me), we wondered why we didn’t just run 10K in memory of our dad. We fantasised about soup and things with lots of salt, we decided running was rather boring. We decided we deserved a medal for not stopping at the garden centre for breakfast, and for not giving up after the first loop. We also agreed that scenic country lanes are highly over rated and really not very interesting in winter. We cheered when the Garmin told us we’d hit ten miles. We ate crisp sandwiches (sodium replenishment!) and drank tea. We stretched. And then last night I slept for ten hours. Slightly worried I might sleep for 26.2 hours after the marathon.
Our run was in a bottom heavy figure 8, so after the first 3.7 miles we arrived back at the house for a loo break (much more civilised) and a delicious Lucozade Energy Gel.
As I’ve mentioned before, the energy gels have the texture of wallpaper paste, masked with a sickly orange taste. However, they’re going to be available on the marathon route and so rather than carrying them, it’ll be good to use what’s supplied. So I ripped open the package, gulped it down with a big swig of water and pulled a face. Zoe on the other hand gagged and retched but managed to keep it down. So after laughing at her in an unsisterly way and waving goodbye to the puzzled (but haven’t you just been for a run, Mummy?) children we headed off on the long part of the run. My legs really weren’t in the mood, and I found that running with Zoe (who is slightly faster than me) in front really threw my concentration. Given that most of the 35,000 entrants will probably be in front of me, I’d better get over that little issue.
The rest of the run went well until the little grumbling pain I had last week reappeared, so we walked for about ten minutes without running. I’ve worked out what it is (popliteal tendon, fellow nerds) and I’m going to visit a physio this week and see what I can do about it. Meanwhile it’s ice, Voltarol tablets and I’m resting it today. Any excuse to spend Sunday doing nothing!
