Janathon 2011

[marathondan]

Today was the long slow one - my first double digit run of the campaign. It's become my custom to leave this run as late as possible on a Sunday night - mainly because it signifies the end of the weekend. So it was 10pm by the time I headed out the door for two laps of my regular 5 mile circuit. The temperature was noticeably lower tonight - heading for zero I reckon - and the stars were looking particularly impressive and clear. Although with my peaked cap I only saw them when I actively looked - maybe next time it will be worth the idiocy of wearing my cap backwards to enable the night-time vista to stray into my line of sight.

Overall, the run was pretty comforable and satisfactory. There were no noticeable foot twinges, which is excellent news. The last couple of miles are mostly an uphill pull, so at that stage a bit of fatigue began to set in. Audio accompaniment was again provided by Radio 4 podcasts. There's some interesting stuff talked about and it's a great distraction, but I wouldn't say I take much of it in.

Last year I got into the habit of switching to uptempo music for the last mile or so, but tonight I thought that as this was a long easy run, I would stick with spoken word till the end. But it turned out that the last podcast expired just before I got home, so with about half a mile to go, the avuncular strains of Laurie Taylor were replaced by the opening riff of Into The Blue. I was unable to resist stepping up to a fast pace, and I flew home with a big grin on my face. It was perhaps the first Marathon Moment of this season's training: when you're struggling and suddenly some external stimulus gives you a shot of pure adrenaline, and you can't help but be lifted.

Now I remember why I do it.

9.8 miles at 3:52 marathon pace.