Weekend Long Run - 30km (and the first butterfly of Spring!)

dannewton just finished a 30.1km run, that lasted for 185 minutes.
This run helped dannewton burn 2428.0 calories.

Description from Strava: I'm not gonna beat about the bush here... today was a fucking good run!

As a complete opposite of what occurred last weekend with general dithering and faffing around., today I was organized. It started early as Parents picked me up at 8:30 to take me to the supermarket for a proper shop. As I don't drive, I'm stuck with the local convenience stores which means a lack of choice of food, and pretty expensive too.

After I got back at 10:00 I quickly put all the shopping away, and then immediately headed out for a long run. I had already chosen my location - to go back out alongside the water railway as I did a few weeks back, but hadn't fully decided on the length of the run.

I knew that this was going to be my last chance of a really long run until the marathon in 5 weeks time (the others will be between 20-25km). In the end I decided to do it on time. 90 minutes there, and then to turn round and run home again for a total moving time of 3 hours... that will be a decent run out.

I expected it to be around 27/28km, but that depended on pace I guess. As a long run, I had my hydration pack as usual along with Jelly Babies (cheapo Co-op version which petty much tastes the same) along with some new snacks - mini scotch egg things

I'd used the sweets before, and they always go down well. But I don't want to eat sweets for the eventual 4 hours plus of a marathon. I need a savory option. I spotted these scotch eggs in the shop earlier today... ooh they look tasty.

And they were!

Anyway, water and snacks on board, a last minute decision to leave the jacket behind and wear a baseball cap instead, and then I set off. Again there was a run up the bypass of approx. 30 minutes, and then I turned off it to join the path alongside the river.

Today I felt good... like, really REALLY good!

I kept checking the pace on my watch, and reminding myself to slow it down. I didn't want to plod along, but I kept getting carried away with the pace, I knew I had a long way to go. I tried a scotch egg... and it was instantly a winner... I'll definitely have more of these for future runs lol.

The path was surprisingly busy, with loads of runners, dog walkers and cyclists out enjoying the good weather today - 13C and mostly sunshine, it was evidently a good day to be outside. As I meandered along the path I kept checking my watch to keep to a sensible pace, but it honestly didn't feel like I was pushing hard at all. It did mean that as I approached the 90 minutes halfway mark I realized I was going to almost hit 15km... well, I then had to go for the extra 4 minutes to hit that. That would make a total of 30km, which is a very decent run out indeed.

A nice long run, a decent pace (well, for me at least!), and I found some new snack options.

but that wasn't the best bit...

On the way back along the water railway, I spotted a large yellow butterfly fluttering up near the tops of the hedge

A Brimstone Butterfly!

Its the first butterfly I have seen this year, which is always marvelous to see. Obviously the photo wasn't taken today (er... I believe Chambers Wood 4 years ago if memory serves), but it is unmistakable. A large Green-Yellow Butterfly, there is nothing else like it in the UK, plus it is often the first species seen flying in Spring.

this is because it hibernates as an Adult to get through the Winter, and then on warm spring days it will emerge to find a mate, and to start a new generation of butterflies

That totally made my day, and I was grinning the rest of the way home.
I had aimed for 3 hours, and I made it home feeling very comfortable on 3 hours and 3 minutes. Perfect!

My plans for later? Well, I've had a shower and some lunch. I'm gonna slob around for a bit and take it easy, and then I think I'm gonna go for a little walk later to give my legs a chance to loosen off before they seize up completely!

If you would like to check out this activity on strava you can see it here:
https://www.strava.com/activities/8581236961

About the Athlete: Living in the UK, I am an intermittent Runner, but always striving for more consistency. When I'm not training I can be found photographing insects or listening to really loud angry music (which is the best type of music obviously!)

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