After a pleasant 5K run the previous day, and a good journey up to Laois, I prepared myself for a long run on the Sunday. There were no time constraints for today's run and so no requirement to be up early. I decided that I'd have breakfast and then laze around for a couple of hours before heading out. Breakfast today was porridge, followed by toast. I really feel like I need to be getting closer to 20 miles having done 15, 15 and 16 over the last three weekends. I set off shortly after midday. I had a good idea of the intended route and approximate distance, and the opportunity of an approximate one mile loop at the end meant I had option N's to extend if I wanted, and if I was able. The route itself was predominantly country lanes so nice and quiet, certainly for the majority of the route. The weather was grey and the air very cold and damp. There was definitely rain in the air, although luckily it stayed away until long after I had finished. The run itself started well but didn't finish as well! The first 9 miles went by without problem. The highlights being forced to stop briefly to allow a tractor to pass in the opposite direction at approaching 3 miles, and then being asked for directions at around 8 miles by a man whose accent suggested he was much more local than me! I had factored in a little out and back section at Abbeyleix town to get an easy to log extra half a mile in and that brought me to 9 miles. As I headed away from the main street and back towards the start/finish, I could sense all was about to change. I was still well short of my intended distance and was now wondering whether it would be possible. A couple of brief photo stops probably didn't help and I felt my legs becoming noticeably heavier with each step. As I passed 12 miles, I decided that the extra miles to get me nearer to my target would be the one mile loops. I knew that would make it easier to complete because I was very familiar with the area and in my mind was the sense of the loop being short and manageable. It didn't quite work out that way. As I headed up the gentle incline, passing the huge dog I'd seen earlier, I knew this was about to become the last stretch of this run. Even the downhill that followed when I turned the corner was a struggle. There was no way I could squeeze another lap out of my tired legs and so I called it a day at 13.5 miles. It wasn't a bad effort really but with higher mileage being the target, it was disappointing to not reach at least the levels of the previous three weeks. Categories
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ABOUT MEHaving completed 5 marathons between 1999 and 2016, I decided this year, I would try to do it properly and plan my training! Alongside, I wanted to keep a blog as it went along, partly to look back on, and partly to help anyone else who may benefit from my own experiences. Archives
November 2023
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