I had such a marvellous run today. I drove to Charing, parked in the village and headed towards the North Downs Way, this time however I turned left rather than right like last week. My route took me from Charing towards Detling. My pack weight has been reduced which made life much easier for me and my poor legs. Todays run was all about being nice and easy and concentrating on technique and breathing, so I would check myself all the time making sure I wasn’t leaning forward too much and running in an odd way because of the pack. I still find running up hills difficult as my breathing becomes very laboured, but I’m sure this will improve. I loved today; bumping into only 2 other people along the route was fantastic, then climbing to the top of the hill and looking across at the wonderful views – made my heart sing. Having gone through one field through the kissing gate (sadly no good looking man the other side to kiss!) I saw this sign
A bit late don’t you think!!! Thankfully there didn’t appear to be a bull in sight. Coming up to the 18km mark I got slightly lost, well not really lost, but accidentally followed the sign for the bridal way rather than the NDW, stupid woman that I am. After running down a steep hill, through a farm, turned right onto a road then left onto a field I couldn’t see any signs but kept going. My Hoka One Ones combo XT which already have a lovely heel collected lots of mud so I became even taller!
As all runners know, if you get lost you need to go back to where you knew you had seen a sign; I went back through the field, up the steep track and found the sign directing me along the NDW. The return journey was made exciting when I discovered I hadn’t zipped up the pocket holding my phone…..quick turn around to try and find it….there it was in the middle of the track covered in mud but thank goodness unbroken!
40k later it was lovely being back at the car, I enjoyed the run and spending time on my own, but this is my longest run so far and after yesterdays tyre dragging session I could feel my glutes. After a stretch I drove to waitrose to get food for the weekend and more importantly something yummy for me to eat! Getting out of the car I looked like an ageing Granny (which I suppose I am!!) thankfully after about 10 steps I was walking normally again. I couldn’t wait to get home for a bath – I always get really cold after a run and it takes me ages to warm up.
One more run to do tomorrow – hill reps then the remainder of the day/evening with my Grandsons who are coming to stay, sunday is my day of rest!
Have a great weekend and for those people racing enjoy and hope everyones training goes well.
Happy Training
