Mansuit EARNED

I've been a bit wiped out this week - what with getting up on Sunday (which was crazy as usual) to get my final run in, being out the previous Friday night, and a (wonderful) day trip to York and the National Railway Museum on Saturday.  Managed to dislocate my jaw (and relocate it) in my sleep on Tuesday night which made for a very uncomfortable couple of days. Been napping a lot the last couple of days which is very unlike me - and spent most of this morning catching up on some Zs in between breakfast and lunch.

I have also been trying, with reasonable success, to deal a bit better with the running hunger.  I've been using Go Faster Food (GFF) which has been featured in Runner's World at least once, and trying a few of the recipes. Combining this with proper carb loading the day before my long run, and some sensible snacking seems to be helping.  This morning's breakfast was some lovely American style pancakes with blueberries, made up with half buckwheat flour - this was a slight confusion when doing my shopping list between two recipes, but was a fantastic addition.  Lunch was a lemon and basil pasta, followed by soreen banana loaf - my new most favourite discovery! I then settled down to watch a few programmes on the interweb to let my lunch go down before my planned 7 miler in the afternoon.

Got my togs on ready to go out at 3 ish, and decided that it might be an idea to grab some sugar for refuelling - as this is the first time I'd planned close to a 2 hour run in a while.  Popped into the local tesco to grab a snickers bar, and then set off.  I'd yet again not had a huge amount of luck planning a run, and decided to add a wee bit of a loop to the one I'd kinda thought out on GRG - taking in more of a local cycle/walk route along the Water of Leith.  After just over a mile I realised I hadn't set my Garmin off properly (argh) but at least had a reasonable idea of how far I'd been already (I could guestimate my time from the till receipt from my chocolate bar!).  

Got a wee bit lost trying to find the footpath in the right direction, but eventually found my way thanks to some instructions from a kindly fellow runner - finally a city runner who said hi in passing and even paused to give me tips! The route along the Water of Leith is spectacular - taking in some weirs and some glorious scenery you really don't expect in a city.  There were some muddy sections, but puddle dodging was doable, and it was a bit of a relief from solid tarmac the whole way. However, after about 3 or 4 miles the signage totally ran out, and I headed off in what I hoped was the right general direction to find the canal footpath which was intended to be my route home. Got honked at by a carload of people, who waved frantically, so I'm sorry if it was you and I didn't recognise you - but I couldn't see well enough with glasses bouncing!!

One of the weirs on the Water of Leith taken from Walk Highlands

Was still feeling pretty strong at this point, even if I was a tad lost, but I thought if I followed the bus routes/water/railway I could work out how  to find my way back (and if nothing else I had a bus fare home on me).  It was then that it started to rain ... it had been drizzling a tiny bit, but nothing my hat couldn't handle (to keep my glasses clear) ... but without much warning it got a lot harder.  And then harder still.  And then turned into a monsoon.  It was at this point that I decided I really was properly lost, it was starting to get dark because of the clouds and my feet were pretty sodden.  I spied one of the buses that passes near my flat and was rather tempted to hop on even though by this point I had only just made the 4 mile mark (out of a planned 7-8).  

Instead I jumped in a phone box, got out my phone, and after a disastrous first attempt with Apple maps (usually reasonable in the city - but missing the canal footpath/canal entirely) I manage to work out that I wasn't that far off course, and I could find a way to the path reasonably easily.  I girded the loins, zipped up the mansuit, and headed off into the monsoon! Oddly enough, once I found the canal, and realised I was starting to get into familiar territory, everything felt a little easier. I wasn't particularly cold despite the drenching, and in fact the rain and wind both started to calm down a bit. Had to have a few words with myself to keep walk breaks to a minimum (mostly when walking under canal bridges) but I kept going until the end of the canal before cracking open the snickers for a few nibbles.  

This had been the point where I had nearly made 8 miles (by my estimation including the bit I'd missed off my Garmin at the beginning) and was prepared to allow myself a bus home if I needed.  However, the snickers perked my legs up no end, and I did manage to run/walk the rest of the way back to my Tesco start point - including a wee bit to get my watch reading nearly 8 miles as well.  Popped into Tesco for a hot chocolate to warm me from the inside, and grabbed a nice yoghurt/granola pot for dessert for tea, and toddled the last bit back to the flat in very soggy trainer - even my heel pads had slipped - and that's only happened once before (at the New Year parkrun last year when the puddles were nearly calf deep for a midget like me!).

Got home, put my tea in the oven (roast peppers/tomatoes/anchovies - to go with cous cous and some feta - another GFF special) and hopped straight into the bath.  Now relaxing with a silly film and stretching my leg muscles out under the duvet.  Also used some of my foot cream to help stop blisters forming - think I'm reaching the threshold of long run/blister forming, and not helped by the sodden feet! Although to be honest it could have been a lot worse considering how wet my feet got - must be my awesome running bear socks.

Having loaded my run into GRG (which included a wee bit post-phonebox where I forgot to set my watch off again), and added in the bit that was missed at the beginning, I realise that I've managed just over 9 miles today! Well on track with the training plan (although next weekend is another busy one that will require some thought to get my long run in). Grandad is coming up the following week too - so maybe I can have a bit of company on one of my midweek runs for a change!