Bramley 20

This should have been my third 20-miler of the campaign but due to illness was my first 20 and longest run since the Abingdon marathon. What was called for was a good bit of discipline to keep things really easy and make sure I recover well for a hard week of training before the Mad March Hare 20 next week.

I'd made a tentative arrangement to meet TR from my online training group but couldn't spot the orange vest anywhere at the start. I set off at the start feeling all alone in a field of hundreds, not having spoken to anyone all day, and not having any team mates around me. Poor little me!

I wasn't too sure about the weather. I had tights and a long sleeved Helly-Hansen on under my club vest, but no hat and gloves. With some spots of rain at mile 1 and some dark clouds I wondered if I was wearing enough layers for jogging. In the end though we were really lucky with the weather, particularly as it rained on the journey there and on the journey back. We even had some sunshine during the race.

I'd told TR to look out for a tall bird in a Victory vest, as I'd be the only one (Victory vest or tall bird for that matter), but I was really pleased when team mate Beth passed me at 3 miles, particularly as I hadn't seen her in ages (it turns out hugging someone whilst running is quite tricky!). Could I resist the urge to race her? She was doing the 10-mile option, presumably a fair bit quicker than my 20-mile pace. Discipline Susie!

Another pleasant surprise was the familiar sound of Mick'n'Phil coming up behind me. Where does Phil get all that energy to drag is dad round? ;-) They were going at a pretty good pace - another target to not aim at.

I was managing to keep my pace and heart rate under control and feeling quite good. We were 8 miles in and I could see a lot of the 10-milers were preparing themselves for the push to the finish. I was aware too that I'd been shoulder to shoulder with a guy for a few miles now. He must be using me for pacing. Should I introduce myself? Nah!

As we entered the last mile of the first half I caught up with Beth. I wasn't sure if she was keeping her pace down for her running partner, but she looked to be slowing. This surprised me a little, as I've had some good battles with Beth in the past and thought she might be faster. I eased past her and carried on for my second lap.

The guy was still there pacing me so I finally broke the silence. We chatted about snowboarding, ankle injuries and broken collar bones, as you do, which passed the time nicely on what was becoming a pleasant Sunday run.

I caught Mick'n'Phil as we hit the hill at 16-miles. I grabbed the handle of Phil's chair to offer assistance. Mick waved me away. That must have been quite a hard push up the hill. Fantastic effort.

My legs were beginnig to tire a little but I was pleased I was able to pick up the pace a little for the closing miles - still keeping things fairly easy though. I finished in 2:53:03. An average of 8:39/mile and 127bpm, with an even pace: a pretty good training run.

I finally met TR at the finish and had a chat - another virtual pal made real. I also met Louisa, one of Karen's Greenwich hill session runners, who'd done a great time of 2:17 - looking good for London!

I guess I wasn't on my own so much after all!