Well, I did it.....We did it, me and WendiMoo. So I didn't do the whole of the planned route, so sue me! But boy, was it a totally shit day! Well, not the whole day, the morning was good, I had kids to look after and we did some great stuff for the Chinese new year. Love doing arts and crafts! But after they had gone I had planned to do a long run, 12 miles, with WendiMoo. Put on my compression socks, picked up my jelly babies, filled my water bottle, put on my rain jacket! Then looked out side! Pouring with rain! I mean, it's the stuff that really gets right into to straight away, wet rain! It's Britain, what else should I expect, after a perfect day yesterday, and now this!
It would have been so easy to call Wendi and cancel todays run, but, as I said, we won't melt! Just gotta get out there. I would much rather run in the morning when it's raining, but this time of year, it's going to be dark before I get home, and I will be totally freezing! But still, it needs to be done.
I arranged to meet WendiMoo on route, at bottom Oxhawth, and then we will run up to Petts Wood and then continue on the planned route. I started running but already I wasn't feeling the 'love' today. I guess sometimes that happens. I tried to shake it off,.......we know a song about that don't we.....
Shake it off! Click here
Sorry, just reminded myself of these two guys when I wrote that! But this is a good song, nothing to do with running, but I might just add it to my play list, just to put a smile on my face when I'm solo jogging. Anyway, there I was, with my running buddy, and we're running along Crofton lane and already I was thinking, '"Wow, we got a long way to go yet" My shoe came undone, my legs were aching and the darn rain just didn't look like it was going to stop any time soon. I was just glad WendiMoo was there, because if she wasn't I'm sure I would have gone home!
My energy levels were pretty low, I thought I had chosen a nice lunch today, as well as healthy breakfast, which was yogurt, muesli and banana for brekkie and then 2 egg omelet with bacon and sprinkle of cheese for lunch. I thought protein is good. I am guessing really, as I can't be totally arsed to go into the whole nutrition thing, I just like to eat what I like to eat, but also knowing that it's good for me, if you know what I mean.
We were about 3 miles in and we both decided that a snack about now is what is called for. Totally soaked now, I am not sure if the water has gotten through or if I was sweating. I didn't feel like I was working hard, so I was guessing that the water had found a way in. Probably creeping up from the legs, soakingi into the fabric and rising up like a sponge. My top that I had on underneath my jacket is a large size, (one of the Maidstone Harriers, Turkey Trot tech tops) and it was down around my backside. I'm guessing that was getting wet and and soaking upwards as well!
I had on 3/4 length jog pants but my compression socks came up to my knees, so it looked like I was wearing long pants. I was hoping my socks will help, keep away any niggles and aches that may come from training for a marathon. My hat was doing an ok job of keeping the rain from reaching my glasses but there was little that could be done for the fact that they kept misting up! It was like running in fog!
I had planned the route so that it would take in Summer Hill, going in the 'nice' direction. I was looking forward to that down hill so much. By the time we got there, the stops (i.e. the walking sections) were almost every half mile. WendiMoo said "I think we must have at least a couple of extra pounds of water on us" I think she was probably right!
So Summer hill. There it was, falling down before us, that false sense of security, If a hill could give a smug smile then this hill would have a look like this
 |
| Summer Hills very own logo! |
No matter how many times I run on this road or even cycle this road, I just get that defeatist attitude, like 'it's' already won. It's totally the wrong attitude! I know that, I have a mental chat to myself, although I feel I should really speak out loud just so that WendiMoo can hear the 'defeatest' in me. But I didn't.
The down hill was just lovely, I mean it didn't even feel like I was doing anything but gliding down there. Unlike the down hills of yesterday in the woods, this was different. You can just let yourself go, no need to look out for tree routes, bricks in the path, holes, dog doings,....although it's always handy to look out for unscrupulously lazy dog owners that don't clean up after their dogs, but that's a different matter.
I could fly down this sort of road for 26.2 miles in a matter of a couple of hours, well ok maybe 4 or 5, it's just so easy, and then just when you're totally getting into the zone, it flattens out, just for a few seconds, just enough to get you out of the zone, just enough to get your eyes focused again on the incline looming up in front.
I try and stay focused, forget about the defeatist thoughts I had at the top. I watched as WendiMoo started up the hill, I kept my eye on her, trying to draw from her energy as she ran up. But I woosed out with a huge "GRRRRRR you silly old mare" I shouted at myself. WendiMoo kept going, I walked a bit, then ran some, screamed again when I couldn't get any more from my legs and then looked up and saw WendiMoo grasping the road sign. She had a target in mind, she wanted to get to the sign and then stop running. This blooming hill had me all worried and running scared (s'cuse the pun!) so much that I had forgotten my own running techniques, to simply look for the smaller goals, the lampposts, the road signs, the driveways. I had my mind set on the top of the hill! Next time Summer Hill, next time!
We got to the top and headed down Blackbrook lane, we had some jelly babies to treat ourselves and hopefully to get us further along our route. But as I was running down Blackbrook I was really starting to feel the cold, the light was going and the rain was bloody relentless. I could feel one of my toes starting to suffer, with the wet socks and constant puddles that I just stopped avoiding now I was really not feeling the 'love',
I said to WendiMoo that I might not run down Hayes lane, that maybe we should just run along to the A21, run down to the Hook Farm entrance and do a lap of the park and then go home. I am not sure if that was going to be the same distance, but to me, at that time it seemed the shorter route. Wendi was beginning to ache as well. The weather and the cold now really affecting us. She thought it was a good idea too.
When we were running down Oldfield however, the plans changed again, "I really, really don't want to do Normans Park now Wendi, but I will do if you want to" I said to her, as pathetically as I could muster, hoping that she would feel the same. "No, I am fine with that, we can just run along and through the park and you can go to Southborough and I can run on home" But I said that we could run along to her house and then I can run home from there, maybe I might even go through the park for an even shorter cut.
So that's what we did. We ran to her house, and she went in after we said our goodbyes, and then I ran home. But I didn't go in through the park, it was dark, although it's pretty safe around our area, I still decided to stick to the roads. All the way down to bottom Oxhawth and then up to Farringdon. On the road that I dare not stop, but I did! I was so annoyed with myself! I couldn't believe I was walking, even though it was just for a couple of seconds. I know better than that! But then the chill got into me, my face was wet, my hands were cold and my feet will probably be looking like prunes now. No, I am not going to beat myself up. I looked up and smiled and then I noticed, the rain, it was just ever so slightly coming down now, just a very light 'misting' Again I smiled. Thank you God, it has been a lovely weekend, and it has been a lovely run today, even in the rain.!
Geeky stats.
No comments:
Post a Comment