Suffering seventeen…

It is days like this that make we wonder why I am embarking upon another marathon. The last two long  weekend runs have been tough to say the least. I know they’re supposed to be, but last week’s fifteen mile run was simply awful in the cold, bitter wind and piercing rain; today’s seventeen mile run was simply just tough. A substantial early section of the run was uphill – three miles of it up a significant hill! I know a bottle of red wine yesterday was not ideal preparation, but I felt leg weary from the start of this run and knew it was simply about distance today and not pace.

There were other physical obstacles too. The traditional route was blocked by reinforced fences as the road is getting some significant work done where it bridges over a stream. I wasn’t for veering from the traditional route, but I could not get round the temporary fencing. So I didn’t. I spotted a point where the road dropped and the fence was slightly raised and I squeezed my not so slender figure under the fence! The rain water was simply flowing down the road and I was lying in it…lovely!

As always I was delighted to reach the end of this suffering seventeen and I know that it is these training runs that make all the difference when I hit that twenty mile mark in the marathon – and hey, this time two years ago a seventeen mile cycle was tough nevermind a run/shuffle!