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Back to Caldecotte Lake, near Bletchley (south Milton
Keynes) for the second jaunt of the week. There was a more
Christmassy feeling with half of the 60 runners in various
items of festive fancy dress. Grudgingly I joined in with a
"Bah Humbug" hat that a friend bought for me!
Saturday's weather was bright & sunny, but snippets of a
brisk wind promised a slightly chilly day, which thankfully
didn't get worse. We walked the half mile or so from the
finish to the start, and almost immediately the Enigma
Running "CEO" got us underway, whereupon we ran back to the
start ready to complete another 7 laps of the lake.
The tactic for the day was slightly different from
Wednesday's run - knowing I had two marathons to do in two
days. I opted for the run/walk approach: run a mile, walk a
minute, run the rest of the mile, walk a minute, and so on.
I also treated both races more like a combined "Ultra",
making sure I topped up on food at the end of each 3.66 mile
lap (jaffa cakes, flapjacks, sausage rolls to supplement the
sports drinks & gels I'd normally use on a marathon).
It was a pretty lonely race compared to Wednesday - no
Graham to keep me company. But strangely enough the fact I'd
just done another marathon round this course meant it was
even less daunting than usual, as I'm becoming more familiar
with the route each time I return.
Anything under five hours would have suited me, I thought.
Although I didn't want to expend too much energy and finish
too quickly, knowing it would hurt all the more on the
Sunday if I did. Therefore I was very pleased to get home in
4h45m, and thankful of a friend with a room at the inn for a
hot bath ready to head back out to the course afterwards to
cheer my friends over the line.
Then back to Oxford for the HRR Christmas Curry to round the
evening off! |