Craig Batterham writes about his long run on 5 March
A recent long run was abandoned a little before the 4k mark after my stomach started cramping up and, based on recent events, I couldn’t be certain if this was going to be a gas, liquid or solid. There were still 24k ahead of me and the plan was to get out to Teddington and back. A decent distance away from home and I didn’t have my cash cards on me to get me back in a rush if it was needed. So I made the decision to turn around and gingerly walk the 4k back home. This gave me a long time to consider my options, I did not want to cut a long run out of the plan. I could save it, find a way to run the 28k as a commute from work on Monday which was what I originally settled on. I mulled over routes home from work, how light/dark it would be, my motivation after being at work all day. Considered the possibilities and consequences all the way home during that walk. If I moved the long run to Monday wouldn’t that screw the intervals planned for the Tuesday? 🤷🏻♂️
Shops were open when I got back to Chiswick & Acton so grabbed some Imodium, there was one option I had considered that was starting to make the most sense. Get back out later in the day and finish the run. So I smashed half a pack of the weird tiny bowls of compressed powder and gave it a few hours. I decided I would run laps of the long club run route to keep me close to home and take my cards with me so I could hop a bus if needs be. I had in mind to go out again for midday but I languished in an internal mental battle for almost two hours! I was kitted up and ready to go but I couldn’t get myself out the door. Somehow, and I have no idea how, I opened the door and headed towards Acton Town station where this second attempt would start. I promised myself we would take it a lap at a time and, if I got to the Shell garage on the corner of Popes Lane and it wasn’t going well I would call it there.
The first 2k were a real struggle, my heart rate didn’t feel like it would settle, my breathing felt ragged, my legs like lead. Turned out to be exactly how the first 2k always feels for me but so much more magnified by my focus on them. Unbidden, my mind was throwing all sorts of excuses out there to not run, go home, rest up. Each one had to be batted away until I got to the bottom of Northfields and started up that hill. Powering up that hill took all my doubt away and there must have been the starting a of a grin as I realise how much I enjoyed a (small) hill. In all I managed around 22k which, even with the run in the morning, fell a little short of the target distance. The rest of the laps were a roller-coaster of negative and positive thoughts, real and imagined pains and a full gamut of emotions. Really happy with myself for getting it done but there is a little voice reminding me I failed at that long run that I am going to be in battle with on Sunday over a 32k distance.
The rest of the week’s training has been tough to start, hard to visualise running it well, worry about sticking to the plan or even enjoy it. But when I’m out there, once the body has realised this is the norm for the next hour or so, everything is different. The aches and pains of the day melt away, the negative thoughts and emotions quieten down and every now and then I realise I am smiling.
I have a couple of long runs left in the programme set out by Jenny and then I think I will be in the taper. I’m not sure, there is nothing set out after London Landmarks HM on the 2nd April which is fine. I don’t want/need to know right now. I’m happy running the mile I’m in.
