Twenty Mile High

So this is my first post in a very long time. Sunday marked the day of my planned long run. With only four weeks to go until the New York Marathon and the Herts 10K being only a week away, it was time to get some miles in at speed. The rest of Running Fource were doing an easy hour in Harpenden, whilst Niall recited Abba versus from his gig the night before.

So I set off at 7am on this cold morning, heading out from Hatfield towards WGC and then into Panshanger. A minor detour (i.e. missing the turning for Hertford) meant I had already accumulated an extra 1.5 miles by the time I reached the Cole Green Way. I then headed up towards Hertford, being crossed twice by a one eared dog and some serial rapist on a bike. With the aim of hitting Hertford with 10 miles on the clock, I actually was closer to 12. I then span round and headed back along the Cole Green Way, before doing a lap through Panshanger. Again, I found myself de-touring from the usual route. Thirty odd minutes to be precise, before I was back on track. I then looked at my watch and realised I had already run 19 miles and still had some 5 or six miles to go before I hit Hatfield. I carried on until I passed the Welwyn/Hatfield roundabout, where I hit exactly 20 miles and decided to walk the rest. My aim was to run 20/21 miles and I wasnt going to run any more. Walking towards Stanborough Lake, 2:33 mins of sweat started to freeze, and I whimped out and called a taxi home (it would have still been some 2.5 miles to walk).

All in all, pleased with the run. Even managed Spin in the evening.