Shamefully decided to DNS the Ben as the forecast said days of rain. Not just the race itself in the rain but the night before kicking our heels in the Fort as the locals knock chunks out of each other. I've been to Fort William for manys a wet race now and it does get old...
And the tension between hill racing and marathon training has been building for some time. My original plan was to do a long run on Thursday and then do the Ben (badly) on Saturday. Then the rain set in and my long run would have to be all in the rain, while the forecast for Saturday here was dryish, and the forecast for Saturday at Fort Bill - you've guessed it. So I could run badly in the rain on Saturday or I could do a pleasanter long run here...and meantime Peter's enthusiasms were dampened...and Ben, having just done the CCC didn't wanna....not a good showing for Porty today I think...
So I set off before Peter was up in case he attempted to come with me because it doesn't matter how many times I tell him that him springing along beside me talking incessantly is a BUMMER as far as long running goes, he doesn't seem to get it. I need to focus and I need to let my head drift. And he continually looks like he's going under the next car so I can't relax
The weather said 20 mph SW winds and some light rain and that was about right. I wore a t-shirt and a Montane marathon jacket - that felt a little too warm for a while but when I took it off I got chilly so back on it went.
The first few miles went by easily as usual and I didn't try to regulate my pace but just ran comfortably and was bringing in about 8.48 pace. I deliberately didn't set myself any goal paces or check the times of the trains back from NB because I didn't want it to be stressful. Recently I have been hating my long runs and setting slow times and I need to somehow get out of that.
By Gullane (c.18 miles) I was starting to feel pretty bad and very achy. I made the decision to stop and get something to eat and drink. I had a bottle of ISO carbohydrate drink which was fine as a drink but didn't seem to make much impact as far as fuelling goes. I stopped at a v. posh delicattesen and got the nicest Italian lemonade which was fizzy but not too fizzy and very lemony and not too sweet, and also a chocolate, marshmallow thing which was superb. They were so nice I had to take a photo of them.
They also sorted me out. After some initial mild discomfort from eating on the run I was suddenly feeling a whole lot better and realised I was going to take the last few miles in my stride! It felt good passing all the familiar landmarks of the E2NB race but relaxed and relatively comfortable. Psychologically it felt really good to finish a long run without cutting it short and feeling okay. Makes me think some of my recent slump may be a fuelling issue.
At the foot of the road up to the train station it was 22.4 miles which I'd done in 3hrs 26 mins. and I caught the train with 3 minutes to spare.
Next thing; I've ordered a pair of VFF KSOs! Hope they are the right size. I want to give this barefoot running thing a go...
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