My intention was to get up and go for a run as far as I could manage on the towpaths along the River Wey, taking advantage of the fact that my Dad had agreed to pick me up from wherever I happened to end up, and hoping to be able to get some double figure miles in. The thing that got in the way, was the weather. My logic was, make hay while the sun shines not too hotly. 08:15 in the morning, having been out about 5 minutes, and already I was dry-mouthed, sweaty and too hot – and desperate to make it to the river side where there might be a chance of shade. It’s the first time in ages I’ve needed a drink or a walking break in a less than 5km distance – and I don’t normally take water even for a 10km anymore.
The water in itself was a necessary nuisance at the start – I also don’t normally take anything at all with me if I can help it other than my watch, or I take my small waistband thing for races to put my keys and phone in, sometimes dextrose tablets. Expecting to do a longer distance, I’d taken my bigger one with the water bottle holder – and with a full bottle of water, a bigger phone than normal, and three gel sachets in it felt really heavy compared with how I remember – and was bouncing like crazy as I tried to jog along, it was not doing my stomach any favours! I got it clamped around my waist securely finally about the 2km mark, and once my water bottle was half empty it was ok.
