I had originally planned to go to London with Kim today and run there, but on account of a late night helping BeerMatt tidy up after the Sussex Festival of Tipples Beer Festival, I managed to secure a pass and used it to go to Brighton instead.
If you’re curious about the beer festival, amongst other things it kind of involves drinking this lot:
And at the risk of using one or two of Karen’s shots that Beermatt hasn’t seen yet, ends up looking a little like this:
It was a really amazing showcase for Sussex breweries (and for BeerMatt too!) and based on the turnout (in spite of truly torrential rain), I really don’t know why more local pubs don’t stock some of these ales!
With all the rain I thought I would go for an on-road run today so I drove to my parents and replicated my marathon training route out to the Peace Memorial in Hove and back.
Initially it was lovely out… well, okay, it was very windy and very grey, but it was also particularly warm. I took my hat and jacket with me but ran comfortably in t-shirt and shorts.
Turning onto the seafront at Rottingdean I spied a runner ahead of me and in true Foster fashion, I set about reeling him in… it took me quite a while but I love chatting to other runners so the extra effort was worth it.
He turned out to be on a 22 mile training run ahead of the New York marathon and strangely for someone who had run from Shoreham, also lives in Burgess Hill.
As we passed the Palace Pier, the rain started in earnest and by the time I reached my turn at the peace memorial I thought it prudent to put on hat and jacket… especially as I was now going to be running into the wind. Justin had chosen the better end to start, I reckon!
I reached the turn point in 1.05: a conversationally comfortable, gradient assisted, wind at your back 6.6mph.
The rain intensified as I returned, but the smile on my face could not be washed off… it was glorious out there. Gloriously wet! And I love the camaraderie of intense weather… my inane grin produced a reciprocal grin from most of the runners and cyclists I passed, as well as one old lady standing in a bus-stop. You can’t beat that feeling!
The trek up from Rottingdean with the wind behind me was harder work that running into the wind without the gradient, but I felt on reasonable form and made it back in 1.12: a reasonable pace of 5.95mph given the circumstances.
So overall, 14.3 miles in 2.17, average 6.26mph.
Good luck to Justin in the New York Marathon!