Day 49

Week 7, Sunday 2nd September

 

Well, that's the end of week 7, those weeks are just flying by.  This week's long run was for 10 miles.  Sam and I ran it on our own as Kath is still on holiday.

 

We started from Sainsbury's in Stoke and ran from there along Kingsway to Glebe street and on to the canal.  It seemed a pleasant way to start the longest run that either of us had ever done before. We continued along the canal until we reached Sideway, got off there, over the bridge and up past Britannia on to Trentham Lakes.

 

From there we ran along to Longton Road and along New Inn Lane to Hanford.  We crossed the roundabout and ran along the A34 to Harpfield Road.  The run had gone smoothly until now as the weather was in our favour, neither too hot nor too cold.

 

We had been worrying about going up Newcastle Lane as most of the roads leading up to Penkhull are notoriously steep. So, stocked up with marshmallows and glucose tablets we began climbing the hill.  We didn't look at it from the bottom as, from past experience, we were aware of the negative affect that you get from that.  Therefore it took me by surprise when we reached the tool shop which is almost at the top.  My legs must have been tired because, I didn't pick my feet up properly and stubbed my shoe on the ground and nearly went flying.  Oops, that could have been nasty!

 

The rest of the run didn't seem to bad then.  I'm guessing the sugar rush might have helped but it could be also the fact that the Category 5 bank was out of the way and now we were going downhill.  We turned left at Penkhull and then along Princess Road to Hartshill.  Sam asked if we were going back to Sainsbury's but alas no, that would not have worked out at 10 miles.

 

The last mile we had to make up by running along Liverpool Road and then back along Leonora Street but by the time we got to Sainsbury's we still hadn't quite completed and had to carry on to Fletcher Road.

 

It was a tough run but it felt very rewarding to complete it, especially as the hill was at about 7 miles when our legs were tired.  This was exactly the plan because "The Sting In The Tail", Congleton half has a big hill at the end (11th mile, I think).