A few days later, undeterred by the technological issues of the previous run, I went out on a harder course for a midweek run. No flat coastal routes this time, instead I was running up the chalk hills that border Brighton and Hove to the north of the city, roughly following the route of the old railway line. The route from Aldrington station to the bridge over the A27 was a familiar one from past Sunday runs, so this time I started with a bit of a lap of Hove Park to bring up my finish line to the top of Devil's Dyke. I continued up through the housing estate knowing more or less where I was going...roughly...wait, none of this looks remotely familiar. Heading on a general north-westerly direction I finally found the bridge across the A27 and got back on route. I had a pleasant jog up the old line, sadly not seeing much of anything to indicate the route's prior purpose, until I got to 6k. I realised that my original plan of finishing my route at the top of this ruddy great hill would mean that I'd then have another 8k to walk back home again. Apart from the photo opportunity, which was pretty much ruined by the grey weather anyway, there was no real point to continuing on to the top of the hill and so I returned back to Brighton.
On the way down the hill I decided to extend my distance for the day. Running downhill was easier than the way up (thanks, gravity!) and I'd have to go the distance back home anyway so I may as well run it and get home quicker. The fickle finger of technology got in my way once again though - as I reached the original total of 8k my podcast started sounding distorted and low bitrate-y. Troubleshooting options like another episode (changing the file), playing a song through Spotify (changing the app) and a good old restart of the phone didn't fix the problem, so I had the last few kilometres without any distraction.
Still, at least I lowered the tone of Waitrose by walking round shopping directly after finishing my run. Another week spent easing myself back into the runs - I replaced my headphones and took them for a spin at Lancing parkrun on Saturday. The headwind again created a positive split and was a real struggle running back but I kept the time under 30 minutes, with Spotify's shuffle throwing up a mix of NWOBHM bands (Saxon, Judas Priest, Rainbow) rather than the usual pop/Springsteen. A gentle run, but a good trial for my new headphones, and my new shoes - I felt that my current pair would probably be on their last legs by the time I get to the marathon, and this way I can get used to a newer pair with a month or so to go.
The following day was five weeks from M-day, which is an abbreviation I'll probably never use again. A clear, cool day, I decided to take advantage of the weather conditions and go for a longer run. If I could run 16k during a storm, I can run further on a nicer day with just a few gusts of wind, right? I'd read about a coastal route along the base of the cliffs from Brighton Marina to Saltdean in Alexandra Hemsley's Running Like A Girl the previous week so thought I'd head out that way and run back along the cliff tops, covering another bit of the marathon route. Apart from a few puddles (my new shoes no longer look new) and a mix-up involving heading up the steps at Ovingdean instead of further along - I really need to plan my routes better, or at least consult Google Maps while running - the outbound stretch was a breeze, and I headed back up to the top of the cliffs by Saltdean's gorgeous art deco Lido. Fun, this!
The way back, less so. Up and down undulating cliffs, the slog of running into the wind up steep hills was not quite as daunting as cresting the hill and realising that, oh no, the wind is much worse when it's not blocked. At one point I came to a complete halt because the wind was so strong. I'd finished one bottle of lucozade and remembering what happened last week, refuelled with a small bag of jelly babies that seemed to be never-ending. Over the course of 3km I must've had the last sweet a dozen times, yet there always seemed to be just one more in the bag. Still, they perked me up on the run and I'll grab a few packets for M-day (there it is again!). The slight downhill gradient from above the marina down to the pier was a bit more gentle, but still windy. Good resistance training at least! Knowing it (hopefully) won't be as windy when I do the marathon was a small crumb of comfort.
By now it was around 10:30am and the promenades were filled with people out for a morning stroll. The grim, sympathetic smiles from fellow runners were replaced by odd looks from people who don't know the meaning of a long slow Sunday morning run (normal, sensible folk then) and I decided to cut short my run from the original planned 29k distance. Instead a quick Google threw up a new target of 21.09km - the distance of a half marathon. I had a time in mind as I'd reached halfway of the marathon at 2 hours 33 minutes last year (and the second half of that taking over 3 and a half hours shows you just how unprepared I was for it!) and I wanted to beat that. I pushed and pushed against a wind that seemed to toy with me, envious of the people flying past using the conditions to their advantage, and by the time I turned up The Drive away from the wind I was too worn out to speed up. I plodded along a bit further, eagle eyes on my watch, and stopped at the half marathon distance to a new personal best HM time of 2 hours, 22 minutes and 53 seconds. The good thing is, knowing the conditions I battled against, on a flat course I can easily beat that again - but that's for another day. The (actual) non-alcoholic beer was a great relief afterwards!
Two days later, and I was ready to run again. Not up to 100%, but if I were a player on Football Manager, I wouldn't have a red or orange "inj" symbol next to my name, fit enough to cope with another run. Where to this time? Well, from my flat there's a tower with a black pointed roof roughly west-north-west. I'd always assumed that this was the clock tower on top of the Tesco Extra out Shoreham way until I spotted it from my run up Devil's Dyke last week, and realised it was significantly closer than that. A few minutes on Google Maps produced an answer and now I had somewhere to run to! Starting with a route through Hove Park I paid attention to my route this time and significantly, didn't get lost. West through Hangleton, through a park north of the big Sainsbury that I had no idea existed until yesterday, and up through Portslade village itself. I knew that an out-and-back to the tower would leave me short by 2k, so I passed the tower at 4.5k and kept on going, over the A27 and along a muddy farm track for an extra kilometre. Somewhere back up the track my GPS suddenly leapt up to over 7k run, throwing out my pace for the day and completely throwing me off. I soldiered on back down the route I'd run, knowing that when I reached Foredown Tower on the way back I'd have a further 4.5k left to run. Fortunately for me my watch showed 8k as I passed the landmark - I'm good at mental arithmetic, but not while I'm exercising my body as well as my brain! A few rough calculations and I worked out not only the distance left but also the time markers I'd need every 500m as well, enabling me to stick to my pace. A finish around the top portion of Hove Park left me with some space to warm down as well.
A social commitment this Sunday has meant that I won't be able to fit in a long run, and rather than push it to the day after (and be knackered for a trip to the theatre that evening) I've pulled it forward and will fit it in on Friday morning. This juggling of my training has pulled forward a few other runs, and today I did tomorrow's run of "only" 5k, a distance I was a little disappointed to see yesterday, but glad it wasn't that far when I did the run today! It was timed for completion in 30 minutes, an easy feat considering my parkrun times lately, but on a hillier course than usual as I completed a few laps of Hove park. I got off to a slow, sluggish start, completing the first km in 6:15, and so I had a deficit to make up the rest of the run. I managed it, finishing in 29:53, but I was grateful of the shorter distance today!
New shoes!
Looking less new after a half marathon
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