Only a short long run for me this week of about five and a half miles. On Saturday I was very grateful for an invitation to join the Sunsail staff boat for a days racing out on The Solent. Despite the handicap of my incompetence we finished a respectable third of twenty six in both races on the day, great starts giving us a lead in both races then faltering towards the line. Sounds a bit like my running style. It seems that seafarers share my new obsession with wind and yesterday their concern was all about the lack of it. We can only dream about such problems next Sunday...
This morning every bump and knock encountered during those hours crawling about the foredeck, hoisting the sheets and trimming the main was felt in a body that said "rest" and not "long run please". I'd had a really good midweek speed session on the treadmill and, having done a HM only a couple of weeks ago, know that I've got plenty in my legs to get me round next week. So I decided to drive to the seafront and run up and down it instead of slogging it there and back. I parked at the Pyramids (roughly where the finish line will be next week) and ran east first before turning at Clarence Pier, then to Eastney before turning again and running "that" two miles down the finishing straight. Having set off and found my stride a dilemma began.....
This morning every bump and knock encountered during those hours crawling about the foredeck, hoisting the sheets and trimming the main was felt in a body that said "rest" and not "long run please". I'd had a really good midweek speed session on the treadmill and, having done a HM only a couple of weeks ago, know that I've got plenty in my legs to get me round next week. So I decided to drive to the seafront and run up and down it instead of slogging it there and back. I parked at the Pyramids (roughly where the finish line will be next week) and ran east first before turning at Clarence Pier, then to Eastney before turning again and running "that" two miles down the finishing straight. Having set off and found my stride a dilemma began.....
What do I do when I get to the end? You see, normally I run in circles, or circuits, and I don't have to turn around in the street and head back the opposite direction. So what's the etiquette? Everything in me wanted to have a designated wall or lamp post to touch at the end before turning, just like you might have had when you were a kid but I wasn't sure the same rules applied to a 43 year old sweating his way past the Sunday morning strollers? Would I look weird doing a speed turn at the bin or weirder just turning at some random point? Perhaps I should stop, pat my imaginary jeans pockets to signify I'd forgotten my car keys or something and head back for them shaking my head? In the end I went the 50/50 route, turning randomly at the pier end but touching a bin at the Eastney end before sprinting off purposefully. Probably no one noticed me either way, but if they did only half of them think I'm strange...
On a last note, I should tell you that the wind picked up a bit today. Probably about 10-12 knots but still coming out of the east which meant, for the third week in a row, it was following me down that home straight. Keep your fingers crossed, at this rate we might spinnakers up and sailing down to the finish!
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