10 minute miles at last!! And chafing.

I finally managed to do nine miles in ninety minutes! I have been having a go at it every Sunday for the last three weeks and went from 10.4 minutes a mile to 10.3...and then up to 10.4. Very frustrating.

But this week I mapped out my exact nine-mile route on walkjogrun.co.uk and figured out exactly what time targets I had at various points on my route before I went out. I managed to beat all of them by a minute to a minute and a half, a lead I demolished in the last 20 minutes because I was so shattered, rolling in at 89 minutes and 50 seconds. Get in!!

The only problem, like Paul, was the effect the wet weather had on my clothing, which it turn had a very painful effect on my skin. I started running in shorts a few weeks ago, which did wonders for the flexibility of my legs, not to mention keeping me cool. But in the rain doing a long run, it felt like a tiny person was trying to saw my right leg off from the inside of my thigh.

It hurt. A lot. And the pain only got worse as the chafing broke the skin and the nasty little person kept sawing away at my raw flesh. It didn't start bleeding though, thankfully, but it sure as hell felt like it was about to. Now my leg looks like someone has attacked it with sandpaper. Lovely.

After I had recovered I went straight down to the shop and bought a big tub of Vaseline. My next mission is to try to find a way of carrying the tub with me, just in case, because I absolutely refuse to suffer that again.