Headlines
Marathon Preparation: strong language required
And We're Off! Average times, we're both pleased
Microwave Dinners: never going to move again
Stream of Consciousness
Marathon Preparation: strong language required
It's Weat Bix and tinned fruit for breakfast. I have four Bix and plan to eat a shortbread a bit before the run starts. I forget to bring the shortbread with me.
Checking the route to parking worked. Today it's an easy drive in. We park and prepare to pay. We have just too few coins to cover the expected time. Another parking machine will accept credit cards. But not mine. Bah, humbug. We leave a noote with the parking ticket.
Off to the start. I'm wearing shorts and tee shirt. Deb, at least, has longer running tights. And an extra shirt to wear to the start. Should we be wearing thermals? Perhaps...
And We're Off! Average times, we're both pleased
Nine o'clock -- and we're off!
Once we cross the start line, Deb and I separate. We each set our own pace. Mine is a bit faster than Deb's. At the start I pull ahead. I don't believe in the "negative split". Run fast at the start, slow at the end... I'll slow down anyway so I may as well go faster while I can!
The first lap, I'm fine. There's a two hour 30 cutoff and I'm past the cutoff point in 2:15. Deb was with a 69 year old woman running the full marathon. She was late for the cutoff -- but grumbled, said, I'm not missing the second half :-( And ran on anyway. Wonder if she was disqualified? Wonder if she ever finished?!
My full marathon is two similar laps. Both laps pass through Welford. In fact, there's a shortloop off the main road -- to within 500m of our cottage! Can't stop :-(
After a 2:15 first half, my second half was 3:05. So I ran 5:20, about average for me. I'd been going slower in my last few runs. So I'm pleased to move back towards average :-)
Deb finished in 2:46. Another good -- average -- time :-)
My last half, I'm feeling the cold. Not badly but I needed to be quick getting on warm clothes when I finished! Deb is sensibly waiting inside the warm car. There's non stop traffic leaving the carpark, we just reverse out and expect someone to give way... Someone does.
We drive home via the south road, avoiding Stratford. Okay, I miss a roundabout exit and we're lost. The GPS set us right again -- mostly by wanting us to do a U turn. When I don't U turn, the GPS takes us round a circular road in a small village. Back to the roundabout. Back to Welford.
We stop, stagger into the local shop, buy two frozen dinners. Then home.
Deb has a shower. I have a bath. It's just a bath, relaxing, but just a bath. Until Deb comes in and turns on the water jets!
Microwave Dinners: never going to move again
The microwave meals are, well, food. My "fish stew" has some fish. But a third of it is a sort of surround of mashed potato. With a rather blehh flavour. I finish off with dessert of Crunchy Nut cereal: milk and sugar held together by a small amount of cereal based flake. Just what I wanted :-)
And now... We are sitting, watching tv. Never going to move again.
Late Extra
Not sure if I've mentioned this anywhere else, a special note for Antonia and Robbie:
This area is thick with magnolias. All in bloom. Not only that... On my marathon run alone, I passed three pink magnolias.
Come to think of it, I don't remember any pink magnolias which were not on my run !? Was I just seeing magnolias through the red haze of my run?? Noooo... I definitely saw them when not running. Perhaps the concentration of pink on my run is because my run went... everywhere.
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