Day 332 - getting closer

Type - steady run

Distance - 24 miles

Time - 3 hours 24 minutes 17 seconds

Today's distance was set at the dauntingly ambitious 24 miles. Alright, last week was 23 miles, but that was accidental. I only set out to do 21 miles. Actually setting out to do 24 miles is an entirely different proposition. It is also a weird distance - long enough to be an agonising prospect, but lacking that extra couple of miles that makes a marathon a special distance to covet and strive for. In the pantheon of races, 24 features only as hours in a round the clock race.

This was the first outing for my new trainers. This was not intentional - you shouldn't really break in new trainers on such a long run. I would find out the reasons why at about mile 8, when the back of my feet rubbed raw, staining the pristine white trainers a darker crimson that paled into a prettier pink as it spread out a few inches from the heel. I didn't even have enough money on me to buy plasters, and so just had to live with the dull pain.

Apart from this annoyance the run went well. It was solidly paced, and properly spaced food and water supplies meant I didn't hit any wall or suffer any bio-mechanical problems. The weather was fine, if a little blowy, but a bit of sunshine and no rain.

The run was the usual home to central London along the Embankment to the end of Lots Road and back (map).

But the last half of the run was done at a precision pacing, running just under 8.5 minute miles. This brought me in for a tired but happy finish at 3 hours 24 minutes - well on target for a 3:45 marathon let alone the intended sub-4 hour finish.