"Long" run

Today's target was 10 miles.

My ankles and calves felt sore when I crawled out of bed this morning but I ran a bath and had a bit of a soak before getting ready to run and they felt a bit better after that.  It was cloudy outside but I expected it to get hot so decided to wear the Run Breeze twin-skin socks in the hope they would keep blisters at bay.  The run is usually a mix of track and pavement so I decided to wear the trail shoes and made sure I put two heel lifts in each to make it easy for the troublesome tendons.  I also rubbed in some Deep Heat before setting off.

I started with a five minute walk then a jog down the hill towards Blists Hill.  I noticed someone fast running along the Silkin Way then lost sight of them.  As I reached the road from Madeley past Blists Hill, I'd got into a nice rhythm - it usually takes me longer than that - breathing in for two, and out for three (something I've been trying after reading an article in Runner's World - the theory is that it stops you leading with the same leg all the time and therefore lessens the chance of injury. It seemed worth a try and, if nothing else, it seems to get me into a comfortable pace). I thought I could hear the other runner behind me and assumed they would pass me in no time at all but thought I'd try to stay ahead as long as possible. I kept counting to five and tried to pick up my pace a little but I could still hear them behind me.  When I got to Blists Hill, I stopped to wait for Jim and Jen - there was no-one behind me. I'd been running away from the echo of my own plodding !  I did feel I'd warmed up more effectively and comfortably than usual and wondered if my gentle tail-running stint yesterday had helped.

I sat down and stretched my ankles and calves and Jim and Jen soon arrived.  We set off at a good pace and I felt a lot more comfortable than I usually do so early in the run.  A loo stop was needed at the Brewery Inn, then we carried on to the Woodbridge, crossed the river and set off along the track on the other side, in the direction of Ironbridge.  I managed to speed up the nasty hill that I had to walk last time - that pleased me immensely !

Jim has noticed recently that I've improved a bit so he set me challenges "Keep running for the rest of that straight section ahead", "You're not allowed to stop until the car park by the Ironbridge".  I did as I was told, even doing the stretch to the Ironbridge car park at a threshold pace (I wouldn't have been able to talk while running).  On this stretch, I could feel the contents of my stomach sloshing and bumping around - a most unpleasant sensation, so as Jim and Jen caught me up I shouted that I was going to dash to the toilets. One of those "Just in the nick of time" moments.  I felt a lot better after that.

Jim set my next challenge "No stopping until the next bridge" This was the one by the Robin Hood Inn. I was enjoying my impromptu training session and set off happily, leaving myself enough breath to say "Good morning" to anyone I passed on the way.

We then took the hilly route back through the woods - it's a lovely track but with lots of hilly bits and now the challenge was to try not to stop at all.  I did have a couple of walking bits but not much and my legs and glutes really started to feel it.  My plan had been to carry on for three or four miles after Jim and Jen finished - we usually do 6ish miles together and I wanted to do 10.  My legs felt tired and I was starting to get a blister - I started to wonder if I should stop with them rather than carry on, as I'd pushed harder than usual.  By the time we got back to Blists Hill, I knew I'd feel bad if I didn't carry on. I also thought that if I can do more than 10 miles on a hilly route, I can probably do the fairly flat Black Country half-marathon I'm aiming for. I carried on, although I did take a detour to buy some more water.

My extra "bit on the end" takes me through some of the footpaths around Halesfield Industrial Estate - it doesn't sound very inspiring but some bits are really pretty and it's surprisingly peaceful. I tried a slightly different route to try and get that extra mile over last time and also managed to keep my walk breaks a lot less frequent than usual. It was really quite hot by now and I had slowed down a bit but I was really pleased that I wasn't getting any pain in my ankles and my biggest niggle was the blisters I could feel developing. It crossed my mind that my ankles might be less troublesome if I didn't have a job that involves sitting at a desk all day - I think if I was moving around more regularly they would give me a lot less discomfort.  I'm going to make sure I do lots of stretching while I'm sat at my desk, just to try and keep everything loose and flexible.

In all, I completed 10.46 miles and really enjoyed it.  I had a message on my mobile phone "Which silly moo left her front door key in the front door this morning, locking us in the house ?"

Oops !  As I got close to home, I saw that BH was just leaving in the car, having had to come out of the back gate and round to retrieve my abandoned door key. I waved but he didn't see me.   That meant I was reliant upon my teenage son (a) hearing me bang on the door (b) bothering to come downstairs to see who was knocking.  I could foresee an hour sat on the front doorstep.......He must have been issued with instructions to let me in as not only did he open the door quickly but he ran me a nice, refreshing bath too.

I remembered to do my stretches and haven't seized up yet so, hopefully, the dodgy ankles are behaving themselves a bit.  I'm feeling quietly satisfied !