January 2012

[marathondan]

Sunday: 11 miles easy pace. Tucked the girls into bed and then headed out into the night. "Don't forget your head torch" said Emma (3). Nice to see them taking an interest. I did pack the head torch in my rucksack but expected it to be unnecessary with a half moon due. I'd also packed ski gloves and woolly hat in addition to my normal gloves and cap, expecting the temperature to drop during the course of the evening.

A slightly milder frost was forecast for the night, so I guess it was around zero when I set out. It was a clear and starry night, but the promised moon was nowhere to be seen - later research showed that moonrise wasn't due until around midnight; another column needed on my spreadsheet.

Rucksack stowed in a hedgerow, I decided to go without the torch. It was noticeably darker than last week, and for a lot of the run I was blind to exactly what was beneath my feet. After several frosts, the muddy trail had fully hardened, and at last I could follow the path without risk of slipping. I think it's the first time I've run this field that my shoes haven't gained mass. My eyes gradually adjusted to the dark, and I could gain some sense of where the track led - adjustments then being made by feel, as the sensation underfoot changed from the rustle of frosty grass to the crunch of frozen mud. And even in the dark, I pretty much know these paths like the back of my hand now.

Overall it was pretty comfortable; again Marathontalk followed by feelgood tunes making the time pass quickly. The temperature had indeed dropped noticeably by the end, and had I stayed out any longer I would have upgraded to the thicker gloves.

I tried out the new watch - it's just a watch, nothing fancy - but it does record split times, which is a novelty for me. Overall time was equivalent to 4:10 marathon pace, a little slower than my usual training pace but not very much. I wonder whether I should schedule a couple of my long runs on tarmac, just to make sure I'm reacquainted with the feel of the hard stuff before race day.