16 miles nonstop - only 10 more on top!

Distance: 16 miles
Time: 2h26m29s
Mile 1 - 9m35s
Mile 2 - 9m46s
Mile 3 - 10m01s
Mile 4 - 9m51s
Mile 5 - 10m02s
Mile 6 - 10m12s
Mile 7 - 10m12s
Mile 8 - 10m01s
Mile 9 - 10m10s
Mile 10 - 10m14s
Mile 11 - 10m35s
Mile 12 - 11m12s
Mile 13 - 10m50s
Mile 14 - 11m07s
Mile 15 - 11m08s
Mile 16 - 11m24s

Another milestone on the way to my London Marathon goal in 5 weeks' time. I've now run 16 miles nonstop. Quite an achievement in itself, but a bit daunting to think I still have another 10 miles to go on top of this...

I wanted to pace myself at an even 10 minutes a mile, but as always set off a little too quickly. I settled into a steady pace after a couple of miles, but simply couldn't keep it up for the whole run.

I spotted a couple of swans in the field between Gainfield and Charney Bassett, noticing that their winter "lake" that had formed whenever excessive rain floods the area had dried up. I wonder how long they'll stay now before heading off to find a wetter environment to live in?

I notched up 2h04m during Mile 12 and was a bit disappointed as last Sunday I'd managed to up my pace easily to sub 9-minute-miles for the last three of the Half Marathon to finish the 13.1 miles in that time. And today I knew I still had nearly four more miles to go, not just one.

All in all it was a pretty uneventful run. The sun shone, there was a breeze but it was enough to keep me cool, rarely too much to bother me a great deal, and since I'd headed out shortly after 10.30am I could tell that I'd be out for the best part of the day. The cloud cover was sparse and only briefly gave partial shade, so I could relax and soak up the rays as I ran.

I saw a lot of cyclists out today, and even passed a couple round about Mile 11. Ok, so one of them was about 5 years old and the other was her Dad, but it did give me a brief spurt of speed before the aches of left hip and right knee took their toll on my pace and slowed me down for the last five miles.

I managed to get home without resorting to walking or taking any shortcuts, several of which had tempted me as I passed. Oh look, if I turn right here I could cut the run back down to 12 miles. Or here. Or even here I could still make it back in 14...

Once home I grabbed a bottle of water and headed back out for a 5 minute walk to warm down, before stretching and zapping leftover pasta bake in the microwave as I ran myself a really hot bath. Now I know various people advocate a really cold bath after a run, but I find a hot one does wonders for me, relaxing my tired legs and making me feel fit again.

After a brief rest and a cup of tea, I grabbed my camera and nipped out along the 16 mile route again (this time with car) to snap some pictures along the way as it was such a nice day:

Mile 1 - leaving Stanford in the Vale


Mile 2 - leaving Gainfield


Mile 3 - approaching Charney Bassett


Mile 4 - leaving Charney Bassett


Mile 5 - halfway to Longworth


Mile 6 - leaving Southmoor


Mile 7 - open country between Southmoor and West Hanney


Mile 8 - open country between Southmoor and West Hanney


Mile 9 - approaching West Hanney


Mile 10 - West Hanney


Mile 11 - Lyford turn


Mile 12 - Denchworth


Mile 13 - between Denchworth and Goosey


Mile 14 - Park Lane


Mile 15 - the other end of Park Lane


Mile 16 - back in Stanford in the Vale


And, yes, the country roads around where I live really are that quiet on a Sunday!