Training for the Richmond Park Marathon is now in full swing so I joined my fellow Eagles for the Sunday morning long run. My plan was to get 3 miles in beforehand by a looping route to the meeting point but I was late getting out of bed so it was only a 1.5 mile run.
Today was the monthly 8 mile scenic route and I found myself at the front of the group alongside a friend who is also training for a spring marathon and also a relatively new Eagles who has 11 completed marathons to his name. We settled into a 9 minute pace trio and proceeded to chat our way through Ealing and various trail paths.
We had been warned that a section of the normal route was treacherously muddy and to avoid it but we’re stupid men with a dangerous sense of direction. I can confirm that it was muddy and the three of us slid down a muddy bank together and had to grab some nearby branches to stop ourselves falling any further.
As 2 of us were in training we decided to extend the run by adding a couple of extra miles on a canal section and then run back to the normal finishing point via the normal Sunday 10 mile route. At this stage we began to gradually increase the pace until the finish and that’s the great thing about running with friends – there is no hiding place! No-one wanted to be the one to slow the group down so the aching legs ached and we made it the finishing place just before the tail runner from the main group finished their route.
I did not hang around for long and there was just time to neck some water with a gel before 2 of us set of for a few more miles by running back to Hanger Lane station. We said our goodbyes and I ran the last section home, via the corner shop for a chocolate milkshake, and took a much-needed rest.
A tidy 15 miles completed and I am in good shape for my upcoming races.
Janathon 2013:
- Exercise completed today: running
- Distance run today: 15.05 miles
- Distance run so far: 130.93 miles
- Weight change so far: -1kg
