22.5 miles – wind, rain, sleet, my feet hurt!

Boy this was a tough one. Didn’t manage to get out of the house until 11am this morning as the weather was just so grotty. Peter eventually yelled at me so reluctantly I went. The rain wasn’t too bad, it was warm and wasn’t raining that hard but the ground was to wet to do off road so I figured out a route with some hills to keep the boredom at bay. Basic 6 mile loop up the Phoenix trail first, only saw one person – weather too grotty for sensible people – then up the Bledlow Ridge – all the way up, no stopping YES! Along the top – boring, mundane, road slog. Nearly gave up on various occasions and went home, taking the children to the cinema seemed a much nicer option. Then worked out that I’ve go so many meetings next week and I’m working all Easter doing Cookery Dems at The Chiltern Food Festival that there is no way I’m going to get this last long run in if I don’t carry on.

So kept going and going and going, the rain died down, the temperature dropped about 5 degrees and the wind whipped up, oh then it started sleeting. 11 miles, only 11 miles, surely my garmin is wrong I must have done 18, feels like it. Then I looked up and saw the golden dome of the church at West Wycombe – almost half way – need jelly babies, lots of ‘em.

Stupidly I had added in another hill to this run, not good at 14 miles, especially when it’s another 300m climb aaaaaargh, this one I walked, head on into the wind, great resistance training. Got lost in the woods, loads of mud – feeling better now, I like mud – out onto Naphill, home strait, long and very straight. Loop around the Pink and Lily Pub, back down into Princes Risborough, home, 22.5 miles in 4 hours 10 mins. Considering I did two flipping great big hills I don’t think that was too bad. My feet started really hurting at 21 miles but I’m glad I did it, another 3.5 miles is OK, may have to walk it but I feel like i can achieve it.

Finally, I want to move to a bungalow – my legs hurt, my feet hurt, my brain doesn’t work, it needs serious amounts of chocolate and I have this inability to speak without groaning – not sure if I’m going to be able to get up from the computer seat, I may be sleeping here tonight!