The loneliness of the long distance runner...

This week is one of the heaviest in terms of training. Already done nearly an hour of sprint training on the bike on Tuesday followed by a good 6 mile run Wednesday. Tonight beats the lot, it's a 10 mile run at just under marathon pace. This is the longest mid-week run over the whole training schedule and the highest mileage week once I do the 19 mile weekender.
As we're not into summer yet it's now dark so no point running to the river or to Hyde Park, that means it's going to be 3 laps of my normal route. I decide to try out a new isotonic carbo gel tonight to see if it does help flagging muscles. It's an organic natural ingredients gel provided by my friend, colleague and fellow marathon runner Ian Myfanwy Williams. Last year I used Lucozade gels but this year I'm experimenting and researching. So just after 7pm I hit the mean streets of Bush, mp3 player on, Garmin on, gel pack up my sleeve. The first lap is always the one with most people in my way (as by law I as a runner actually own this route), there's people leaving work, returning from work, drinking after work, shoppers, vagrants, fast food junkies, hoodies and all other demographics represented. Considering I have trained the previous 2 nights I am feeling good, no real incidents apart from mis-judging traffic flow as I crossed Uxbridge Road which led to me having to run down the centre of the road like Rocky for a few hundred yards (or in metric a few hundred metres). As I finish the first lap I check the distance - 3.64 miles, this included the 3rd of a mile to get to the start of the lap so the next lap I reckon will take me up to 7 miles. The second lap is again easy, a few arguments with pedestrians and buses, though I do think it may be me - the endorphins are pumping so I'm on a high and feel no fear or pain. As I complete the 2nd lap the Garmin shows 6.8 miles gone which means the 10 miles should be hit pretty close to the house - excellent. As I start the final lap I decide to try the gel, I rip open the top and discard as I pass a litter bin then take a big suck. It tastes like phlegm mixed with a bit of honey, if I don't feel any benefits I am going to punch Mr WIlliams tomorrow. Fortunately for my welsh compadre after 4-5 mins I do feel a boost. On the last lap I'm feeling good and the people are thinning out. Then I have the incident. As I approach around 9 miles I am running up to the bus-stop at the end of Old Oak Road, 6 teenagers are approaching the other way, all with jeans that start at the bottom of their arses and caps that teeter on the tops of their heads as if they were "teflon-heads". They see me approach and instead of moving into a group they spread out across the path. Little did they realise I am "Runner-Man" fuelled by endorphins and organic gels. They are so confident that I will stop or ask to get through that when I plough straight through I have never heard such a girly yelp. I'm not sure whether it was down to surprise, anger that he had dropped his KFC or fear that his jeans would fall down. By the time they had recovered their deep fried mouse, pulled their trousers up, cursed and adjusted caps to a jaunty angle Runner -Man had dissappeared into the night, well turned onto the A40. As I turned into the run-in toward the house the Garmin was showing 9.92 miles, not bad. I reached the final corner as there was a beep beep beep and 10 miles were completed. This left me about a quarter mile to warm down, perfect. 10 miles completed in 1h 27 minutes which is a pace of 8.42m/miles which is well under schedule. The only down-point of the run, I get into the house just after a kid-knackered Sharon has finished her dinner. By the time I shower and get my food Sharon is off to bed. Once alone I watch Mancester City luckily scrape through the UEFA tie and write my blog, Good night!




FCB - 7 DP - 8 H - 3