Sunday is still long run day, but with a progression run on the schedule and lots of friends off at the Doynton Hard Half Marathon, it was a solo rather than a social run. Out onto the railway path (so not really undulating or off-road, sorry coach but the off-road trails I won’t get lost on are narrow and muddy at the moment) and out past Warmley this time. The initial 25 minutes were still awkward at such a low heart rate/pace and it was good to be able to stretch the legs out as I went into Warmley and moved into the ‘steady’ part of the run.

I was trying out my High5 nutrition belt, which allowed me to carry my phone as well as some gels, so paused a couple of times to take some photos (and took two gels, one every 45 minutes). As I turned around to come back home I was taking a photo when a fox trotted out across the path and over the rail tracks.

I was so close to half marathon distance at the end that I sped up a smidge and just went over my 2 hour limit in order to register it (since I’d gone so far). This is much more like it in terms of long run distance and I think all of my future long runs are going to have to be done solo without the pauses you get on a social run. I’ll still see the gang at parkrun on a Saturday (for as long as the schedule allows).