It was not really a steady run it was more of a marathon paced run, to see how I would get on. This run turned out to be one of those eventful ones that will stick in the memory for a while. The run started out close to my old marathon pace and then saw how long it would - not long as my post run Strava km splits revealed. I was really pleased with how much better this run went than last weeks run, I felt far more fluid and was in a really good frame of mind setting out.
The plan was to practice gels and take one an hour with one before - having gone around Cardiff Bay to the second gel at two hours of running I discovered I'd lost it somewhere (it must have worked its way out of my run belt). Happily I had packed a pack of 'just in case' sports beans, so I smashed those down and finished of the bottle of water I had carried / used until that point.
On the way back towards town I realised the park entrances to the Taff trial would be locked and I couldn't retrace my steps, new plan hatched (that I calculated wouldn't add too much distance) I ploughed on. Into town it was quite busy and I was greeted by three lads who yelled "Oi, fat slob!!" as I passed them. Already feeling a bit out of sorts at other hiccups this just about mentally finished me off... the long gradual hill up North road was incredibly hard.
Finally I got within a kilometer of home and entertained thoughts of a final push, to which my legs said "no chance!", and then the wall hit and I was in gripped by a full energy bonk as I got back. Breathing rate up, heart rate up, deep fatigue, legs legs jelly... yeah, it was not a long steady run, it was basically a 3 hour tempo run. Glad it was done, glad that I stayed focused (for the most part), and glad that it sets me up to get round Bournemouth marathon (albeit now perhaps as a recce for a better attempt at it another year).
