One foot in front of the other
Today I ran for five and a half hours. My Garmin GPS watch that I use to track my pace/mileage/elevation ran out of battery after the first 25 minutes. I always run with it; it's good that I didn't stop at that point! (I hadn't charged it properly the night before, and hadn't checked it before leaving.) It is a fun tool, not an essential one. I decided to use time as a thing to aim for, and chose to run for at least 5 hrs 15 mins (half an hour more than my previous longest run of 18 miles). I reckoned that would make it at least 20 miles.
I managed to run for 5 hours, 35 minutes! There were walking breaks about every 7 minutes, and I would quite often have to stop and stretch because of my back problems. I also had to take an extra-long walking break after I ate a cereal bar; didn't want to see it again.
I went from Regent's Park (Queen Mary's Gardens) to Whitechapel Mosque via Hampstead Heath/Golders Hill Park (which is not at all on the direct route). Hills done including Primrose Hill and Parliament Hill (twice). I wore my Mornington Chasers vest and got encouragement from Chasers who happened to be out and about. I got a glass of water from an old eastender on Cable street - I'd run 5 hours that point and it'd been an hour since my last drink. She let me into her (ground floor) flat which I thought was unwise, but up to her.
I kept up an attitude of joy and friendliness for most of the run - especially after the first 3 miles or so. Exchanged smiles with people. I added in silly runs with wildly rotating arms every so often - it really helps! EVERYTHING IS SMILEY!!!!!! <-- (runner's high)
During my last mile I was tired, but I was aware that I could possibly go for a bit longer. At this stage of my training 'a bit' can be six miles. So - I can do a marathon. I CAN DO THIS CRAZY THING.
According to dailymile, I used 5,800 calories on my run. Adding that to my Basal Metabolic Rate and you get 7,817 calories that I have burned today. That's an awful lot of energy that I needed to fuel! I've eaten and drank quite a lot of energy dense food/liquid (before and after), no idea about the numbers.
In bed, after a nice hot shower. Wearing pyjamas. All is right with the world.
I managed to run for 5 hours, 35 minutes! There were walking breaks about every 7 minutes, and I would quite often have to stop and stretch because of my back problems. I also had to take an extra-long walking break after I ate a cereal bar; didn't want to see it again.
I went from Regent's Park (Queen Mary's Gardens) to Whitechapel Mosque via Hampstead Heath/Golders Hill Park (which is not at all on the direct route). Hills done including Primrose Hill and Parliament Hill (twice). I wore my Mornington Chasers vest and got encouragement from Chasers who happened to be out and about. I got a glass of water from an old eastender on Cable street - I'd run 5 hours that point and it'd been an hour since my last drink. She let me into her (ground floor) flat which I thought was unwise, but up to her.
I kept up an attitude of joy and friendliness for most of the run - especially after the first 3 miles or so. Exchanged smiles with people. I added in silly runs with wildly rotating arms every so often - it really helps! EVERYTHING IS SMILEY!!!!!! <-- (runner's high)
During my last mile I was tired, but I was aware that I could possibly go for a bit longer. At this stage of my training 'a bit' can be six miles. So - I can do a marathon. I CAN DO THIS CRAZY THING.
According to dailymile, I used 5,800 calories on my run. Adding that to my Basal Metabolic Rate and you get 7,817 calories that I have burned today. That's an awful lot of energy that I needed to fuel! I've eaten and drank quite a lot of energy dense food/liquid (before and after), no idea about the numbers.
In bed, after a nice hot shower. Wearing pyjamas. All is right with the world.