Distance Check

It's been a good weekend for the Big Wales Thing, passing a critical running milestone that tells me that maybe, just maybe, I have a chance of covering the distance.

This weekend I set out to run 20 miles each day, with a reasonable weight (6kg) pack. I know that routes around here aren't going to be as hilly as I can expect on my run, but all the same, I have never run that far in a day before, let alone two days in a row!

I didn't quite make it, but I came close enough! 20 miles on Saturday and 18 on Sunday. Enough to make is feel that, with a bit more training, I can manage the 18 mile a day average that I am looking for.


Yesterday morning I was out early, and it really felt like spring had arrived. Everywhere getting greener. Yellowhammers singing from the hedges and buzzards flying in pairs. I heard my first chiffchaff of the year as I went through the woods. I ran 13 miles in just over two hours, on a mixture of terrain, but mainly hard tracks without any huge hills. Getting back at 1015ish I felt good, with plenty of power left in me, and happy with what I'd managed.

I was out again at 1930, headtorch showing me the way up dark lanes and across muddy fields. I ran until the GPS on my phone said I'd done over 3.5 miles, and then returned by the same route. I felt tired but finished strong, and could have managed a couple more miles.

My trusty Osprey Talon 33 joining me in a rest in the sunshine.

This morning I was up early, a little stiff but nothing to worry about. After a good breakfast I was out again for another two hours, this time over hillier ground on the edge of the downs. (In fact a cut down version of the hilly 12 mile run I did a couple of weeks ago.) I covered 10.3 miles including a quick run back to the car over the last mile or so, because I was late for picking my daughter up! It was hard work though. Much hillier than I am used to, and I found myself forced to walk on a few of the uphill stretches. A nice long downhill towards the end made things easier, but I need to do something about my endurance in hills. Intelligence suggests there are quite a few of them in Wales!

Then this afternoon I set out for my fourth and final run of the weekend. Familiar territory on well trodden paths through the woods. As I set off I could feel my rucksack rubbing on my back, on the spot that had been rubbed raw last weekend. I adjusted the straps to make it sit a bit lower, but that is something else I'll have to sort out.

This run was hard and slow, and I was feeling every yard of the 30+ miles I'd covered in the previous 36 hours. I found myself forced to walk here and there, even on the flat bits. It wasn't my legs hurting, but I just felt as if I'd run out of fuel. Maybe I hadn't eaten enough calories to make up for the 4000 or so that I'd burnt! Another lesson for the run itself!

I seemed to get a second wind as I came to the end of the run, and stormed (relatively!) through the village and up the lane to home.

I'd managed another 7.7 miles, bringing today's total to 18 miles and the weekend's total to 38 miles.  I know that I need to do better, as some days I'll need to run 20+ miles and it will be hillier and I'll have a heavier pack (I was running with 6kg this weekend, but I expect to be carrying 9.5kg on the run.)

But despite all that I am happy that my plan of doing 12 or so miles in the morning and then 8-10 in the afternoon seems to be a good one, and with another few months' training I should be able to manage the distances.