Longest training run done: cashback!

Yesterday saw me undertake the longest run of my Half Marathon training. If you can cast your mind back to the schedule I posted a couple of weeks ago, it had me building up from 10km to 20km in 2km intervals over the course of six weeks. I had to modify this slightly due to my knee injury in week three but I am pleased to say that I casually jogged round 20kms of Kent countryside yesterday morning.

You can view all the technical details of the run by following the link below:-

http://runkeeper.com/user/grahamtutt/activity/70303150

I admit that the time is not the greatest, but it puts me on course for a sub 2 hour half marathon, and who knows: I may even come in under 1:55 - a mere 15 minutes slower than my previous best :-(

I'm pleased to report that my knees held up pretty well. I'm still running with a heavily strapped right knee, and the patella tendon injury to my left knee is a minor cause for concern, but all-in-all I'm really pleased with the way they're behaving. No dodgy tummy this time either (thankfully).

It's customary to "carb-up" on the day prior to a long run. I did this by having the kids' left-over pasta, a bottle of beer, and a very nice chicken and mushroom noodle thing from ASDA. That, together with an early night, put me in good stead for the 20km run. What it did not do was prepare me for just how cold it was at 07:30 yesterday morning...

According to my neighbour (Andre 3000) the temperature gauge on his car was showing -7.5 C at 08:00, and Barber Graham tells me it was -10 C when he left to open his shop at 07:00. So it's safe to say that when I stepped outside it was somewhere in the region of -8 C, and boy did I feel it!

3kms into the run my thumbs were so painful it was distracting me from running. Despite putting my hands under my armpits and enclosing my thumbs in my fists it took until the 6km mark before they returned to somewhere near normal. My right thumb still feels slightly numb today!

When I got home and took off all the technology I carry with me, I ran my hand through my hair and realised that the sweat in my hair had turned to ice. I was literally running around with icicles in my hair! Don't get me wrong: I run hot, so prefer it to be a little on the cold side when running, but this was a little too chilly.

Anyway: it's done and I'm filled with confidence that I will complete the Half Marathon. My only worry it not being able to train whilst in Qatar and Saudi Arabia next week. I will also need to be disciplined regarding how much food I eat whilst out there. Due to the fact there's nothing to do in the evenings (and of course no bars) my experience is that the tendency is to over-eat to relieve the boredom.

I paste below a copy of the route I took yesterday and wish you all well. Nanoo Nanoo.