Is there anybody in there? This weeks long run

As the mornings get lighter so the weekly mileage starts to creep us as the weekly long runs get longer.

This week’s was 14 miles, and having looked at the weather forecast for the weekend I had plumped for Saturday as this was allegedly sunshine, whereas Sunday would be showers.

First indications were not too promising with a grey overcast morning, but by the time I was actually ready to go at around midday it was beginning to look much better.  It is a pleasure not to have to go for the long run kitted out in numerous layers together with hat and gloves etc.

About a mile or so into the run on comes Comfortably Numb through the headphones and the line “Is there anybody in there”.  My mind was by now fairly empty, one of the reasons I love running so much is that it has a de-stressing effect and seems to open up the creative side of the brain, so the lyric seemed quite appropriate.   I will confess that although I do have the Pink Floyd version on the MP3 player, the version that came on was the slightly unusual cover version by the Scissor Sisters.  All street credibility evaporates!

Next up was This is England by the Clash, this is one of their slower, less well-known songs but has thoughtful lyrics.  So as the mind was empty I started to think about all the things that are wrong with England, the list quickly reached a large number, I got bored, so this then stretched into what annoys me when I am out running.

I don’t have a huge attention span but I did come up with a few of the main ones:-

1.  Cars that try to force me into the ditch (on roads with no pavements)

2.  People walking their dogs without a lead – they may be very nice dogs but they are a bloody hazard

3.  30 feet long elasticated dog leads – another accident just waiting to happen.

4.  Rain – unpleasant even with waterproof hooded running jacket.

5.  Busy traffic junctions – just annoying having to stop and bounce around on the spot.

6.  Other runners who ignore me – I thought that a runners etiquette exists whereby we acknowledge one another?

7.  Cyclists riding on and filling up the pavement – what are the roads for?

8.  Car drivers who honk their horn just as they approach for no apparent reason.  More annoying is the fact that it always makes me jump, which I am sure is the reason they do it!

After that I remembered something I read in Runners World which suggested a good discipline for your long run was to try to achieve a negative split.  Essentially this involves starting at a pace slower than your target pace and then gradually speeding up over the run.  It appears that the majority of runners start off too quickly and will run a slower second half to their marathon or half marathon.  So I decided to see how this worked in practice. 

Seven miles was done in about 1:07:30 so I was aiming to beat 2:15.

Pleased to report that a negative split was successfully achieved with the time for 14 miles being 2:13:41.  Overall stats were 14.35 miles in 2:17:10 with av. pace 9:33 and a whopping 1,707 cals gone.  I took out a pocket full of marshmallows to get some sugar hits on the way round so a fair few calories will have been replaced before I got home.

After completing the run (and on the advice of the physio) I plunged into a cold bath where I spent about 10 minutes trying to convince myself that it wasn’t so bad..  Plunged is another way of saying I rather delicately and gingerly lowered myself into a freezing cold bath which almost took my breath away.  I have been doing this after the weekend long runs for a few weeks now and it does seem to help the recovery of the leg muscles.  Apparently there is little scientific evidence to support this but I think it does help.  It is still a bit of a challenge though.

What else?  Some other good songs from the MP3 (which is now without the Running Trax CD’s which were deleted on Friday night)…….  Have a Nice Day – Stereophonics, Smooth Criminal - Alien Ant Farm, Waiting for the End – Linkin Park.

Also had Into the Valley from the Skids which took me back to the great gig at the Pompey Mecca when the Skids supported The Stranglers.  A brilliant evening that was.  And sadly I can still remember the lyrics to Into the Valley, which if you are familiar with the song you will realise that this was achieved with the benefit of the lyrics on the album sleeve!

 Next week the target is 15 miles.