It has been quite windy this weekend. By “quite windy” I actually mean scaffolding-smashing, tree-toppling 70mph gusts of wind that made me quite glad I was saddled with work, dispatching ambulances to people who had been upended by the weather, rather than getting upended by the weather myself. Most of my friends were taking part in the Big Half (which is organised by the London Marathon people and is almost first half of the London Marathon route backwards). I was not sorry that I couldn’t join them. Sample reports (paraphrased):
“I was running for thirty minutes and found I’d only gone ten metres” (Several people)
“I got knocked over on the finishing straight by a huge invisible man who wasn’t looking where he was going” (Harry)
“I would have got a personal best if the course hadn’t been two kilometres too long. It must have been too long, it certainly felt like it” (Several people).
“I thought it was perfect weather for running actually, the tunnel was worse” (Zoe. I think she is immune to weather, or mad.)
“Why would anyone want to do this race, the weather is always terrible! Don’t sign up!” (Ellie)
“Oh my leg hurts I think I will be forced to go to the pub instead what a terrible shame” (Rob)
“The wind blew my Cow Cowl away! Has anyone seen it?” (Mike)
I went out for my penultimate long slow run before Landmarks today. I am officially beginning my taper, which meant that I only had to do fifteen kilometres! The weather was relatively mild – dry and sunny – and the winds had probably halved, but that was still pretty windy. I also have a cold which meant I had to keep stopping to blow my nose and also that the wind was sending my snot to places it didn’t belong. Sorry for the TMI. I would also like to point out to all the people who insisted that I had “a cold” in January that this is what a cold is like. Not something that puts you in bed for two days and stops you exercising for a week. That was not a cold!!
The first seven and a half kilometres flew by effortlessly, and the second seven and a half – when I was running into the wind – were like running through treacle with lead weights strapped to my trainers. I didn’t try anything fancy this time and just headed down the well-trodden path to the Hackney Marshes centre and back. I was very pleased to see that I got back home in well under two hours (1:57 to be precise) which is the sort of pace I need to be looking at for the half marathon (but for six more kilometres, obviously).
I feel everything now hinges on the weather because if there is hail, wind, a heatwave, flash floods, a sandstorm, a plague of locusts etc etc etc I am buggered. The forecast is currently for 12c and grey skies which of course is far too good to be true.
7:07 