I took the day off work yesterday, I was just too fed up with it all to cope with a full 5 days, plus I have to deal with a girlie Hen weekend this week which will play havoc with my running schedule. It seemed the best thing all round was to take an impromptu holiday and go running.
Having dedicated an entire day in its honour it was going to have to be a long one. Time to try out the Oxford Cambridge Boat Race loop, a 4 bridge jaunt along the Thames in the summer rain. 16 km in total (10 miles) so my longest run to date if we disregard the runs that included a little bus ride in the middle.
I’m pleased to say, it didn’t take me all day but it wasn’t far off at 2:05:00 and it did play havoc with my muscalature and left me with strange blue patches round my mouth. The latter from the juicy blackberries that I had to sample on the final 2k stretch, yummy. This morning I’m aching like crazy, with stiff shoulders and mangled calves (is that the plural of calf? I don’t want any animal rights protestors on this blog cos I haven’t done anything nasty to baby cows!). Anyway, lets just say the pain has reminded me just how far this damn half marathon is going to be.
First blog update I check out this morning directs me to Bob Almighty who is in training for IronMan New Zealand to raise money/awareness for ALS, a terrible motor neurone disease that sends the afflicted into a rapid spiral of paralysis leading to death. Bob’s fundraising page is here if you are interested and I would really recommend checking out the home page for the war on ALS foundation. There is a video there showing the IronMan attempt of Jon Blaise (Blazeman) who faced his diagnosis with ALS by putting his body through that gruelling event. ALS usually results in death within 1 to 3 years, imaging dealing with that and deciding to train forIronMan at the same time. Watching him ride that bike with his arms strapped to the handlebars because he can’t hold on, and roll on the floor to try and relieve the pain in his legs, does put life just a little bit in perspective. There are some true warriors out there and I hope his struggle goes a long way to motivating others.
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That looks like a great run along the Thames. You might be aching and sore the next day but isn’t it a great feeling, a sense of achievement.
wow, congrats on your longest run to date, that sure looks pretty along the river. what was your previous longer run? i am going for the big 5mi tomorrow if i dont talk myself out of it. Hearing and reading about people with such afflictions sure does make the slightly achey knees etc pale into insignificance. Thanks!
Thank you for noticing our Blazeman Warrior Bob’s quest for IM New Zealand! And thank you for the promotion of the Blazeman Foundation and our War on ALS. Jon’s accomplishments on the battlefield of Kona in 2005 with ALS were nothing short of amazing and the video serves as an inspiration. We are recruiting Blazeman Warriors for Team Blazeman – and it’s not country specific! If anyone is interested, please see our website’s Join Team Blazeman link.
Also, congratulations on your longest run! Hitting the 2 hour mark is huge!
I keep meaning to do this run, I will have to wait till this cold/throat thing is gone though…
Well done, just another 16.2 to do, then maybe then the Endurance 50?
Oh and I love the true runner(tm) quotable from you:
“plus I have to deal with a girlie Hen weekend this week which will play havoc with my running schedule.”
*beams with pride*
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