Today I ran 7.34 miles in 2 hours. This may not sound like much, given I'm
hoping to run 26 miles in 5.5 hours this coming April. However, it's a major accomplishment for me. It's by far the furthest I have ever run, and
the longest time I've ever run for. And
I really did run it - or rather, I trotted along slowly. That's pretty much walking pace, less that 4
miles per hour. But I didn't walk, I
definitely sort of gently jogged, so I'm going to count it as my longest run
ever. It's a little over 11 km, so more
than a 10K.
It was an enjoyable run, too. On the country lanes, the drivers were all
immensely considerate. They slowed down,
all except the driver of an Audi A4, but he sped up so much after he passed me,
revving his engine and tearing away, I can only think that he must have slowed
down after all, and I just didn't hear it.
On the A46 drivers were a little less considerate. And the path by the road was really uneven
and overgrown, so not a lot of fun.
Did you know nettles can sting through compression tights? I think I won't repeat that particular bit of
the route.
I took a different
route to my usual today, and saw many interesting things. There was a little field mouse, scurrying out
of my path and into the hedgerow; there were two ancient sycamores I must have
passed hundreds of times, but never noticed how old they are (they must be at least
200 years old based on their girth), I saw miles of dry stone walls in
beautiful condition, there were clouds reflecting the evening sun that glinted
as if they'd been digitally enhanced, and there was a funny smell as I passed a
large electricity pylon, that I assume must be the smell of ozone.
I also noticed this milestone, which I'd never seen
before. This is just a little country
lane - why does it merit a milestone? I've
looked at an old map that pre-dates the nearby M4 motorway, and at one time
this was the B4455, a small but perhaps significant east-west route in an area
with comparatively few straight roads.
Whether the cause or the effect of its straightness, this was an old
toll road, running from Bristol to Chippenham.
There are signs of this, including a "Turnpike Cottage" and
"Turnpike Farm" on the corner with the road between Tormarton and
Marshfield. These toll roads were common
in the 17-19c, and were run as
trusts,
set up to maintain key roads, before the railways brought about their decline
and responsibility was given over to county councils instead.
The milestone is a cast iron plate attached to a large
stone. I was puzzled by the first
destination - it says "To Malford 13" and I reflected that I'd never heard
of this village, which is unusual for me - I know most of the little villages
around here. Then I noticed the X. Of course.
Christian Malford! 13 miles
away? Well, maybe. It's just the other side of Chippenham. I suppose it must have been an important
staging post at one time - there are some gorgeous houses there.
Next is "PuckleC 5", i.e. Pucklechurch. Its main claim to fame would appear to be
that
King Edmund I of England was murdered there in 946 AD. He was the
grandson of Alfred theGreat.
The last line of the milestone is "Bristol
12". Presumably central
Bristol? Who really knows. I'm not going to run all the way to find
out.
Not yet anyway. There
and back, plus the leg to my house, would be roughly marathon distance. And the route goes to some interesting
places, including the iron age fort at Hinton, which is a match for the one
nearer to us, by the Old Sodbury petrol station (so called "Roman
Camp" - because the Romans sensibly used the old fort as a stopping place
on their north-south route from Bath).
I feel I ought to write a bit about the run. I was trying to keep the pace slow and to
stay in the "green zone" with my heart rate monitor. For the first half hour this was pretty hard,
but after that it got much easier. I
didn't slow down - my pace was 15-17 minutes per mile throughout the run - but
I think my body must have clicked into running mode and settled down a bit.
I guess that bodes well.
The muddy tracks at the start of the run were not so much
fun, but the road running was good - it was a cool day (note to self - need to
take hat and gloves from now on), and the roads are in surprisingly good
condition considering how little used they are. As I mentioned, the A46 was hard work and to
be avoided in future. I know from my
maps that there are other ways across the motorway, and I should seek them out
at some point.
I did not find it hard to keep going, and had I not set
myself the goal of two hours, then home so we could get to the fireworks on
time, I'm sure I could have run for longer.
I now know that running a 10K race now would be a reasonable thing to do
- and I could probably do it faster than today's run, which was deliberately
cautious on the speed front.
Unfortunately, my legs are killing me. During the run, a couple of my toes started
to hurt, but afterwards they've been fine, and it's ankles, shins, knees and
thighs that are complaining. I should
probably consult a sports physio at some point for advice.
So - a milestone in more than one way. The marathon is still over five months away -
if I was ever in doubt, I'm pretty sure now that I'll be in shape to run it,
and to get a not-embarrassing time.
