Milestones

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.