Saturday Afternoon 12 miler... kind of

After more filing of the bike frame on Saturday morning, I got myself in my running gear for my prearranged 12 miler round Richmond Park with someone that is actually going to be doing the marathon come April. I wasn't quite sure why I was doing it but with a couple of HM's coming up over the next couple of months, it couldn't hurt. I quick bit of checking before I headed out made me realise that the 12 miler would actually be a 13.42 miler as it would be 2 laps of the park but never mind, needs must.

I headed out and we were running a comfortable pace along the ups and downs of Richmond Park and frequently dodging the cyclists (on the pavements?!?), dogs, pushchairs, children and couples out walking. Along the last 1.3 miles of the first lap, I had a moment of clarity and worked something out. I wasn't even close to enjoying myself. It's not that I was finding it tough, it's just that I was still running on badly maintained paths, alongside roads and if I'm going to do that, I'd rather be doing my shorter quicker runs. I like my longer runs along the river. At least there are no cars. With half a mile to go, I was jogging extremely slowly, not at all out of breathe and had more interest in picking the dirt from my fingernails (blame the bike work) than where I was running.

Decision made. The car was parked at the end of lap 1 where my mate was waiting and having a drink. At that point, I said my goodbyes and went off home. 6.71 miles completed in a very long time! Some day's, I think it's better to cut your losses than try and continue and this was just one of those days. Now I'm off to find a 15 miler course for a run in 3 weeks time and this one won't involve Richmond Park or laps of any kind!