January 2015

[marathondan]

Week 2 of 18


Another week in the bag. I ended up doing my long run last night, the first time I've done a night run for a while. Somewhere out there was a full moon, but with cloud and mist all around it was nowhere to be seen. After a few goes round this route, I went without a torch (it never crossed my mind to take one) and even in the short sections of wooded trail I had no problems. 

Well, no problems seeing, plenty of problems staying on my feet. The two fields were slippy, but the interconnecting paths, which I had to negotiate four times on my two figure of 8 laps, were quagmire, ankle-deep in places and requiring an action more akin to ace skating than running at times. At least it's flat.

I covered a bit over 8 miles, plus in effort terms I reckon the conditions were worth an extra 1 or 2. A good sound session, hard on the back though as I struggled with traction, something I'm really going to have to watch this year. I guess that's my longest fully offroad run ever. I'm happy that I've now got a decent offroad circuit in the toolbox which can serve me well for the long runs, although there's a couple of others I've mapped out if I get a chance to try them in daylight. On which note, as I planned my shorter efforts for this week, I realised I'll be able to run at lunchtime for the first time in about 4 months. Which will be nice.

On the audio was episode 260 of marathontalk, another shortened Xmas edition which just consisted of an interview with Rod Dixon. So none of the usual banter, just an hour and a quarter of long-form narrative covering the 72 and 76 Olympics, the 83 NYC marathon, and getting kids running. Nothing too earth-shattering, but a great listen in the car or on a long run.