The last week of training before the Easter break has been a busy one. Graeme & I are beginning to feel tired now, the long weekend runs are starting to accumulate in our bodies. We both have a few niggles. My lower back, glutes and right knee/calf are tight and Graeme’s knee and calf also need constant stretching and attention from the roller. I went to my usual Tuesday session at Stroud AC and knocked out 10 x 400 metre efforts, not sure where I got the energy to do that from but somehow I keep on going!
Looking at the long range weather forecast for the Easter Weekend we discovered we were owed a visit from storm Katie, oh joyous joy! With this in mind, we decided it would be best to skip my Thursday club training session and plan a long Good Friday run in the sunshine whilst the weather was on our side.
I had a silly brainwave that we should catch the train from Stroud to Kemble station and run home so that is what we did. Graeme planned the 16 mile route using ViewRanger and once again based this around the local Sustrans route. This time he opted for route 45.
After a busy work week going for a run first thing on a Friday morning is not our most favourable option and I must admit there was a bit of negativity in the household about getting up and going but off we set, a quick run down hill into town to catch the train in time!
We were blessed with lovely weather, perfect blue skies and it was actually quite warm around 14 degrees. Graeme dressed up in 3 layers and longs quickly discovered he may be over dressed for the occasion. The lanes from Kemble station are very quiet, perfect for running and indeed cycling too. We exchanged pleasantries with a number of cyclists on the way and the thoughts passed through our minds it would be easier on the bike!
As we quickly found the Sustrans route undulates as it meanders out towards the lovely Cotswold villages of Tarlton, Rodmarton & Cherrington. This was not ideal at this stage of our marathon plan, we really do need flat runs from now on! I don’t think this is helping our aches and pains even though it has probably made us stronger in the process – she says putting a positive spin on things!
The route was easy to follow until we reached Cherrington and somehow took a wrong turn which took us completely off track across fields with no footpaths and we had to stop running and navigate down through a very steep wood to get back onto the road again. We saw our first bluebells of the year in the process.
The pictures above show one of the brutal hills we came across on the route. at half way through the run, we took the opportunity to re-fuel at this point rather than use all of our energy reserves.
We stumbled across a 2 day cross country event at Gatcombe and also saw lots of Spring Lambs and some lovely highland cattle.
The climb out of Cherrington is quite steep so rather than push ourselves and risk injury we adopted a run walk strategy until we reached Gatcombe Park and the amazing Neolithic standing stone called the “Longstone”.
The next section of the run took us down through Minchinhampton and onwards towards Nailsworth via the undulating lanes. By now our legs were starting to ache and I realised I did not have enough water with me. It became quite a mental struggle through the next 3 miles on the cycle path from Nailsworth with Graeme pushing ahead until we reached 16 miles at Dudbridge (17 if you count the run to reach the train at the start).
We decided to call it a day there and walk the extra mile back home because our legs were just shot and I started to get bad stomach pains which subsequently continued all afternoon. I have put this down to dehydration so topped up my water levels. This is the second time I have experienced these problems so I will be using SIS Go Hydro tablets in my water bottle from here onwards.
