Double or quits

Autumn is definitely the season for races – which means summer is the season for training for them! With the adidas 5K Women’s Challenge (11 September), Oxford Half Marathon (25 September), Royal Parks Foundation Half Marathon (9 October) and Bupa Great South Run (30 October) all heading my way soon, I’ve been slowly upping my training in the hope that I’ll be race ready by September (I’ve learned from experience that putting in good-quality miles is a much better plan than simply plodding along my usual short routes, crossing my fingers and hoping for the best). Hence the fact that interval sessions and tempo runs have now made a reappearance in my weekly running routine.I’m quite a fan of interval sessions (OK, they can be painful, but only for short bursts at a time). But tempo running – not so much. The thought of having to run for a sustained period of time above my comfort level fills me with dread. Nevertheless, on Tuesday this week I headed out for my lunchtime session and felt pretty good about it. It was perfect running weather, my legs felt fresh and the towpath where I run was nice and quiet. In terms of a tempo session, it was now or never. And so, pushing myself that bit quicker than normal, I ran two of the four-mile circuit at a pace that had my heart racing and my legs starting to burn. I admit, once I slowed down for the final mile to cool down, I felt amazing for it – but was definitely ready to get back and put my feet up. Needless to say, this didn’t happen, because rounding the corner there was a big yellow sign that made me want to weep – ‘Towpath closed ahead’. Which meant no access to Hammersmith Bridge. Which meant I couldn’t get back to the office the quick way. Which meant turning around and running my entire route again – in the opposite direction. After considering flagging down a passing boat to ask for a lift across the river, I realised that, rather than sob silently to myself, the only productive thing I could do was just keep running, despite my tired post-tempo run legs.One hour three minutes and 33 seconds after I initially headed out, and 7.5 miles later, I rocked back up to the office, tired but kind of elated that I’d manage to combine a tempo session with a long run (luckily my team was very understanding about the reasons behind my extra-long lunch break!). But lessons learned? Always be prepared when heading out for a run – as I was planning to be out for just half an hour, I didn’t have any water, money or a phone with me, so not only was I gasping for a drink at mile five, but I couldn’t nip into a shop to buy one and I couldn’t let my boss know where the hell I’d got to! I’ll always bring a phone and a water bottle with me from now on – you never know what’s going to happen, or which roads will be closed.