Well Slap My Thighs and Call Me Pheidippides

I am a (half) marathon runner, oh yes indeedy.  But more on that later .......

Friday:  Busy day at work today trying to get things finalised before the start of the long Bank Holiday weekend.  Ringing around and chasing for information that should've been with me a week or so ago is somewhat soul destroying so by the time I got home the last thing on my mind was running.  However, I have now actually got to the point where I feel terribly guilty if I don't exercise; it must be the Catholic in me.  Which is why 9pm found me donning my running gear and heading on out the door for a relaxing 5-miler (I love the fact that I have got to the stage where I can use the words 'relaxing' and '5-miler' in the same sentence). 

Saturday: Quiet, relaxing day with no running as saving myself for the big run tomorrow.  The Diamond Jubilee has passed us by somewhat as we don't have any plans to attend street parties, BBQs, concerts or any other kind of celebration for that matter.  Bah humbug and all that.

Sunday: Up with the lark and sacrificed my much needed lie-in today for a run, how self-righteous do I feel?  And it was raining to boot.  Having met up with the other runners and donned a lent Camelbak off we set at a lovely, leisurely pace.  I was warned advised that the pace would be slow and the worst of the hills we would walk but I didn't really believe it as I have been 'advised' before that a run would be on the slower side and then struggled to keep up.  But what a fantastic run it was, all of it off-road and across countryside that was undulating but, with the exception of a couple of hills which we did indeed walk up, very doable.  My feet were soaked within minutes of setting off, in fact I was soaked up to my thighs as some of the grass we were running through could've had elephants hiding in it for all I know it was that overgrown but it just added to the fun element.  I adore off-road running and because we were going slower it was easy chatting to my fellow runners and that just made the time fly by.  The plan was for me to do the first part of the run and then peel off when I had reached my limit which I was hoping would be around the 13 mile mark.  The slower pace meant that we reached 10-miles without really thinking about it which did surprise me as the weekend before I struggled towards the end of the race and I'm not sure I could've gone much further; in fairness though the heat and the faster pace took it out of me.  As I still felt strong I carried on going to the next peel off point which was at 13 miles and it was at this point I bid my fellow runners 'adieu' and set off on my own for the last couple of miles which brought me back to the road so that Other Half could come and collect me.  In total I covered 15.4 miles and to say I was pleased with myself was an understatement; I felt such a huge sense of satisfaction that I had managed to cover 50% more distance that I had done before and still feel strong at the end.  Running with a Camelbak was also a new experience, it was not as cumbersome as I thought it would be; guess it's something else I am going to have to invest in!  Maybe these longer distances suit me more than shorter, faster runs?  They are all heading off again for another long one in a couple of weeks time and I will be there, maybe towards the back of the field, but there nonetheless.

Monday: Really thought my legs would be protesting about yesterday's run today but, whilst my thighs were letting me know that something had happened to them, it was no worse than if I had done a shorter, faster run.  Decided to give running a miss today (mostly due to tomorrow's Club run) I thought I ought to do something exercise related so did a 3-mile powerwalk with Rommel.  

We also had a bit of a family get-together this afternoon and Other Half cooked up a storm on the BBQ.  Why is it that you can't keep men away from cooking on a BBQ but have to employ all your feminine wiles to actually get them to cook dinner in the oven?