Sunday 22 March 2009

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!

1 comment:

Heidi said...

Cold bath? UGH!!

Running 13.1 miles in memory of Carl

I ran the Silverstone Half Marathon on 15th March 2009. I managed the 13.1 mile course in 2 hours and 4 minutes. Not a bad effort for my first Half Marathon! I returned in 2010 to run it in 1 hour 54 minutes, and plan to do it again in 2011. I decided to run this in aid of The PSC Trust and PSC Support in memory of my brother Carl, who died from liver failure in November 1997. If you'd like to sponsor me for this - please email me at pscrun@ulen.me.uk PSC Trust
PSC Support Or visit my Justgiving page for PSC Support at PSC Support - Justgiving
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