So, two Wednesdays have passed and to cheer myself along on what many people call ‘hump day’ ( all downhill to the weekend once Wednesday is out the way!), I’ve ran 10 miles after work. Now all you marathoners and ultra readers of my little blog probably do that every day before breakfast, but for me and my new white trainers that’s a significant ‘ramping up’ of mileage. I have previously hit the 10 mile mark just twice, on official training , about 3 weeks before the two half marathons that I’ve run…………….my next half isn’t until the end of September, I haven’t thought about actually ‘training’ for that yet  ! So could this be my new long run norm, how I roll, my new distance of choice?

Is it just me, or do other runners find it hard to find a suitable long routes to actually run when the distance goes up? I have a 10km route for every direction from my front door, one for every weather and my mood. 10 miles though, that’s a mapping problem. Ellie and I agree, if its not at least 10km, it doesn’t actually feel like we’ve been for a run

I think I’ve been sensible and taken water and a gel with me for the hour mark. I’ve tried some SIS gels, because Decathlon had them on offer and you don’t need to drink a set amount of water with them which would make the whole running process too much of a scientific palaver! I’m not sure I felt the fuel injection, I didn’t feel the urge to sprint nor did my head get the buzz of a nice  tall, black Cafe Nerro but I got to 10 miles with a small stop for calf cramp at about 9 miles…….so how do I stop that then?

Gels are weird, running along trying to get it out my little waist pouch, rip the tab off with my teeth and then swallow it without mucking up my breathing rhythm and do all that on the run was a bit of  a challenge. Should I have just stopped? It reminded me of a defrosted freezy pop, very sickly, bit slimy, very sticky even though I tried not to get it on my fingers. Bizarrely my iPod holder seems to have little elastic loops which I thought were to fit gels, but they wouldn’t fit, so what are they for then? How crazy is this, it cut the corners of my mouth, how else do I suck out the contents without shoving it in my ‘cakehole’? Running and tasting blood is a bit disconcerting. No idea what I did wrong there ? It was really sore next day, yawning had to minimised, which is tricky after 10 miles. I’m going to need more practice at this ‘on the go’ nutrition lark.

While I’ve gone way beyond running for weight loss now, the second ten miler came after a Bank Holiday trip to the seaside. Now for those who know their geography, Nottingham is the most land locked county smack in the centre of the UK. We are the furthest place form the sea in any direction. So we Notts folk get a bit excited by the seaside and make the most of all traditional seaside treats. Within 24 hrs I demolished, cooked breakfast, fish and chips, cake, ice cream (99 with flake). I took carb loading to a new level. I’m not sure the 1554 calories that Mr.Garmin said I’d burned really covered that lot. Always better than sofa surfing though.

So can I make it 3rd time lucky on my 10 mile streak? Will my dodgy piriformis complain? Can I swallow a gel without injury? If I carry on as above, better make it 20 miles ! Find out on the next instalment !

Categories: Ladies of a Certain Age Running (LCA)

Tags: 10 miles, running nutrition, SIS gels