It was an early start today as I got the first of today's three planned 5 mile runs underway. It was very cold in the Derwent Valley so I made sure I had more layers on than Adrian in Rocky I. After yesterday's PB I felt I had nothing to prove so I set off at a steady pace and the intention was just to make it through the day in 1 piece. I nearly came a cropper though when I skidded on some ice in Ebchester! I managed to do the 5 miles in 00:55:09. The time was irrelevant given the cold, dark and slippy conditions.The second lot of 5 miles, at lunchtime, proved to be much more difficult. Thankfully, I had Carl Hudson to keep me company and steer me round in a respectable time (00:50:10). My energy levels dropped to rock bottom after the 2nd mile and it was only a very long conversation about food that made the run bearable. Food like sausage rolls, chips and beans from Carricks when I was a kid and the contents of a 10 pence mix up were on the agenda. These days I rarely make the kind of carefully thought out and calculated decisions that I used to when deciding what to have in my 10 pence mix up! It was 10 pence. Not 11 pence or 12 pence. Just 10 pence. You only had 1 shot to get the contents of the mix up right. Would I put a 2 pence chew in there (like a Refresher) or would I go for 4 smaller half pence chews ? Oh the decisions you had to make as an....erm.....7 year old. Anyway, after all of the reminiscing about food the run was over.
But why the lack of energy after 2 miles? I think this morning's porridge simply replaced the energy expended on the 1st run. I had nothing left for the lunchtime run and the deficit showed after 2 miles.
A similar thing happened on the final 5 mile run of the day but the hunger and lack of energy wasn't as severe. I decided to head for the hills on this one where the 1st mile is a steep uphill out of Shotley Bridge. I haven't ran up that hill for a couple of years but it was so much easier than I remember. The final time was nothing to write home about though at 00:59:15.
So that's 15 miles for the day and 25 for the week so far. I'm half way there! It's not only about the mileage though. I've gained some small idea of what training is going to be like on a daily basis from next Summer! Zikes! I've also discovered that the nutritional plan I've stuck to since September will need some adjustment before I undertake a day like today again. Incidentally, I ran 3 lots of 5 miles today to make up for the fact that I won't be able to do 1 of my 2 scheduled 5 mile runs on Friday when it's Jack's sixth Birthday! Thankfully, I'm back to a good old 10 miles tomorrow and then again on Thursday! I'll be aiming to finish the running week off in as much style as is physically possible with the final 5 miles of the week on Friday. Then with a belly full of jelly and ice cream (and probably porridge) I'll be looking for a good effort at Beach Bootcamp. Then, if I manage 8 lots of steps again I may even treat myself to a 10 pence mix up for old time's sake.
