Week 17

First some thank-yous:  to Running Coventry for giving me a name check and reciprocating my link on his blog, and to Bev and Carol for their generous donations to the Haiti appeal.

I should also thank the Coventry Way elves who have been busy sorting out problems on the route.  Last week I went through Brinklow and the waymarker stuck to a sapling that had rotated and sent me the wrong way last time, was now stuck firmly and correctly to a stout post.   There seem to be more waymarkers generally than during my first circumnavigation, particularly the sort stuck to lampposts, or maybe, without the map to look at, I am getting better at spotting them.

On Saturday morning I woke and stocked up with porridge with every intention of running, but as the rain came down the forecast looked better for Sunday I went back to bed.

So more porridge on Sunday and a glorious morning as I run-walk in warm-up mode to Ansty, join the Coventry Way, plodge round through Barnacle, Bed’th and Corely and then via Harvest Hill Lane and Allesley to home. It is the first time since I started training for the Coventry Way that I have run with just one layer of clothing.  There a quite a few walkers out enjoying the spring sunshine; couples, families even a group of young lads, with maps following the Coventry Way.  We need more of them out to tramp down some of the paths, but not to churn up the muddy bits.  There are still plenty of these, particularly where the canal seeps over its banks or where some other hidden sources of water seem to emerge from the ground independent of any rainfall. I suspect that even in the unlikely event of us getting solid sunshine between now and April 18^th, some places will not dry out.

At 41k, just short of a Marathon, this was not the longest distance I have ever run but it was the longest amount of time at nearly 5 hours.  But a cold bath and plenty of calories, fluids and rest sees me fully restored by the next morning.

Only four weeks to go now, two more long runs then a taper, then it’s the Coventry Way challenge.

41k completed at a pace of 7:14 mins/k.