Wednesday 30 December 2009

Day 246 - in the bleak mid winter

Type - Steady run

Distance - 6 miles

Time - 44 minutes and 18 seconds

Back to London, back to work and back to the familiar run along the Thames. It had been a rotten day in the City - a cold ride into work with a stiff, frozen north-easterly wind followed by an afternoon of intermittant rain. The weather report had suggested the rain would clear up by early evening. They were wrong.

I stepped out into Waterhouse Square to be enveloped in a swirlling mist of fine drizzle, quickly soaked and then frozen as an Artic wind blew under the arches of the building. There was only one thing to do - start running and warm up.

My boss had suggested I was at best odd for running in such conditions, or possibly mad. But these are the best runs. These are the runs when you feel that you are training over and beyond the usual. Stepping out of the comfort zone and enduring the nastiness of a British winter. With every rain sodden step, every foot-splashed pace and every involuntary shiver I was going closer to my goal of a sub-4 hour marathon.

It was an even run, with a decent negative split (running 7.5 minute miles for the first 3 miles and 7.25 minute miles for the final 3 miles) and a decent finishing time just over 44 minutes.

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