Week 16, 29/4/09 - Wednesday

Time of day: 09:27
Distance: 10 miles
Time: 1 hour 50 minutes
Weather: Sunny

Again I was feeling really unmotivated about this run. I'm not sure why, I think it's just all consuming training for a marathon. Steve cycled with me and we stopped and started in the first couple of miles. 1st stop the garage to buy some lucozade, I thought I'd try lucozade rather than gatorade to see how I got on with it. But which one to buy? Lucozade sport, lucozade original, lucozade energy, so many different types to try and all full of aspartame and other rubbish (aspartame is a pet hate of mine - it comes from having children and getting paranoid about what you are putting into their bodies). Anyway I settled for lucozade original I think, but then I worried because it's fizzy, surely it can't be a good idea to drink fizzy drinks on a long run?
Next stop was Gloucester sports where I had a discussion with the staff there about the best energy gels/sweets, we bought some sport jelly beans.

After that I didn't have any more legitimate excuses to stop. I ran through town and down to the docks where we joined the tow path along the canal. This is a route I have done many times before, but have always had to stop because they have been doing a lot of work there so it's often blocked off in various places.

It was a beautifully sunny day. Really all I wanted to do was sit down and just lie in the sun. I felt quite irritable which is unusual once I start running. We stopped at the 5 mile point and enjoyed the view and the weather. I sampled the lucozade (which was fine) and the jelly sweets (which were really nice) and then started on the return journey.

I arrived home feeling full of energy. I was amazed really that I felt this good after a 10 mile run. It's surprising to me how quickly your body adapts to increased demands. Only a few weeks ago I felt like I could hardly move after a 10 mile run, but today, physically it felt almost effortless. Mentally, though, it's a different thing. It's not the effort of the runs that I'm finding hard, it's more having to try and fit them into an already full life.