Saturday morning long run

Laura and Sheila had planned to run the Brandon Half Marathon this weekend but, somehow, their entries to the race never got through. By the time they realised this, the race was full! So, not wanting their training efforts to be wasted, they decided to run their very own half marathon!

I decided to tag along and do part of the run with them and also Marianne and Lisa wanted to give it a go aswell, so a grey, drab and drizzly (my perfect running conditions!) Saturday morning saw the five of us, up and out the door at 8.00 am.

We decided on a route which would give plenty of opportunity to break off when either one of us felt we had had enough. It was part of my 8 mile run that I ran last year when training for the Great Eastern Half Marathon, with an extra bit in the middle.

I started off feeling comfortable, my legs felt strong and breathing was good. It was a comfortable pace being able to chat as we went along. Not long into the run the rain stopped but the weather remained perfect for running.

After about an hour Marianne and Lisa split off and headed back but as I still felt ok I decided to hang on in there and see how much further I could go. At about 1:15 my legs started to feel a bit tired - I hadn't run this far since last year and I could definitely start to feel it.

We kept the pace going and we were already on our way back. The miles slipped by and before I knew it we had been running for 1:45. I had packed a sports bag with my swimming kit and change of clothing and my husband had taken it with him when he went to the gym, so at the nature reserve bridge I left Sheila and Laura and carried on up to the gym. There is a bit of a hill on this last stretch and my legs were so very heavy at this point. I pushed on knowing that I only had a couple of hundred metres left and arrived at the gym tired but completely elated! I couldn't believe it - I had just run over 11 miles!

Distance: 11.5 miles
Time: 2:00:52