I've had a difficult running week. I missed my run on Tuesday due to a meeting running late. This was my first missed run of my marathon training plan. I'm sure the odd missed session won't matter in the overall scheme.
Sunday is long run day though, and today's was a punishing 30km. I started at 16:30, while the sun was still warm, but to mitigate that, I ran down the Trans Pennine Trail from Lymm, joining the Bridgewater Canal from Altrincham to Timperley. From there I called at my mum's near Brooklands for water, then to my son's in Northenden for another water break.
I was back out after a couple of minutes, already quite fatigued, but at least refreshed.
The total run (more accurately jog and walk) took 22 seconds short of 4 hours to complete. That's a marathon pace of around 5 hours 30 minutes. I'll be happy just to complete it though.
Spare a thought for us marathon tail-enders. Whilst others are rightly getting all the plaudits for their fast times, they are expending maximum energy for 3 hours, or 4 hours or whatever. Meanwhile, we plodders are putting our maximum efforts into running for 5 to 6 hours, and this is a whole lot harder on the body.
After today's effort, I had a 1km cool down walk. During this, my body temperature dropped, the top of my middle finger went white and numb, and I got the shivers. A shower, cup of hot tea, and bed, and I'm now back to normal, but I really need a good end of run routine, if anyone has any tips.
I reckon I will be able to increase today's run by another 12km. I'm just praying
@BlueHammer85 doesn't suggest a BlueMoon Virtual Marathon.
Five weeks until the Manchester 42k.