Looking out of my window at the pouring rain it is hard to believe that my run earlier today felt like the hottest run of the year so far. I also felt very badly prepared.
Yesterday Ruth and I hosted a barbecue party to celebrate Ruth's birthday with a dozen of our close friends and their respective kids. Fortunately, the weather was fine. Perhaps a little on the breezy side, but dry with the odd patch of sunshine. I remembered to drink sensibly, but I didn't do much in the way of carbo loading for a long run today. It would have been more appropriate to have had the barbie after a long run, not the day before. Anyway, it was good fun.
This morning I drove to Magog Down where I parked up and set off for a 16 mile run to Linton Water Tower along the Roman Road. This was my first significant run since completing Windermere Marathon. I'd pretty much had a whole seven days of rest from running after the marathon. My only run during the week was on Tuesday evening with a client.
I didn't start my run until about 9am, later than I'd normally set off, and the temperature was already picking up. I enjoyed my outward run and felt pretty good. I was surprised at how few people I saw on the footpath, given that it was a bank holiday and the weather was good. The Roman Road heads south-east, but after 7 miles I turn onto a road heading south-west in the direction of Linton water tower. As soon as I turned onto the road I was hit in the face by a gust of wind. The Roman Road is mostly enclosed by trees and hedgerow and I had been unaware of the wind up until this point. The water tower is only about another three quarters of a mile further on, half of which is on road, the other half on a gravel track leading uphill to the tower.
As I arrived at the bottom of the gravel track I had a flashback to racing Andy to the top of the hill on a similar training run earlier in the year. Today I only just managed to keep on running to the top. I felt really sluggish all of a sudden, and the temperature also seemed to suddenly get hotter. I felt as if heat was being reflected from the surface of the gravel track into my face. Once I'd made it to the top of the hill I found some shade to stand under whilst I had an energy gel and some water. After a couple of minutes rest I set off to retrace my steps back to the start.
I don't know if it was just a figment of my imagination, but the temperature seemed to have increased by more than was possible on my return run. The hedgerow on either side of the track seemed to be trapping the heat, turning it into a furnace. However, no one else seemed to realise this. By the time I was running back to the start many walkers had risen from their slumber and were out for a stroll on the Roman Road. Most were wearing jackets and didn't seem to realise how hot it was. Could it just be me?
By the time I'd got back to the car I was exhausted and I felt as if I couldn't have run another mile. This is a very rare feeling for me. I put it down to post marathon fatigue and lack of carbohydrates with my main meal yesterday. Yes, I had the typical male response to a barbie, which is to fill up on barbecued meat. Still, it was all very tasty.
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