Janathon Day 8 - An Unplanned Marathon

The plan for today was a longish run out towards Delamere Forest and then catch the train home again. Sunday is the worst day for train travel as the hourly service on the Chester line is reduced to every two hours. I had the choice of the 9:23 or the 11:23, the earlier one meant leaving at ridiculous o'clock, the other, a more agreeable 7.30 start. So I set off after a large bowl of porridge with my trusty camelbak with the route set to be mainly on the A556 (aka the old 'Chester High Road'). It's a busy road during the week but has grass, paths and cycle paths for a lot of the first 12 miles.

The plan was for 18 miles but turned out as a full marathon, hence the 'unplanned' aspect. In fitting with the video above, the run went as follows:

Mile 1: Off out the door, saw another runner, feeling good!
Mile 2: Through Knutsford and past the McClaren garage.
Mile 3: Across the motorway, counted 7 cars.
Mile 4: On down the A556, the fastest mile of the run!
Mile 5: More dogs again, two alsation 'guard dogs' patrolling the inside of a garden centre. Maybe one of those was the 'bottom biter'.
Mile 6-7: A gradual up then down. 

Mile 8: On past the Robertson's bakery, the smell of fresh bread wafting through the air was magnificent!
Mile 9: Another long stretch.
Mile 10: A nice downhill to the 'Blue Bridge' that crosses the river Weaver. Here in 1:15, bang on 7:30 pace.
Mile 11-12: A long mile and a half stretch and the start of the gradual climb from 70ft to the high point of 450ft by mile 17 (not high in proper hill terms!).
Mile 13-15: Finally off the dual carrigeway section and past the Sandiway golf course.
Mile 16: Decision time, I had to make a turning here for the couple of miles up to Delamere station. The train wasn't due to arrive until 11:23, it was now 9:30. Mmmm, do I carry on for another 10 miles to Chester and catch the same train leaving there at 11:07. I was feeling ok, so thought, why not let's got for it!
Mile 17-18: The last two miles up to the 'high' point of the run.
Mile 19-20: A long gradual downhill losing all the height I had gained in the last 8 miles. At mile 20 in just over 2.5 hours. About an hour before the train left and the final 6.2 miles to run, decided to take it easy for the last miles!
Mile 21: On past the village of Tarvin and stopped to take onboard a gel (blackcurrant, wasn't expecting that!)
Mile 22: Past the turning for the village of Stamford Bridge!
Mile 23-24: A real trudge of two miles alongside an ever busier road and a light drizzle.
Mile 25: In to the outskirts proper now and over the A55, still calculating my pace, should be ok :)
Mile 26: Across the canal and I can see the railway track leading to the station, exciting! Round the corner and there's the station, I get to the station and see I've done 26 miles! I thought I had better do another 0.2 miles otherwise a string of Twitter comedians/ennes would berate me for not running a marathon!!

It was now 10:55, just enough time to get a ticket and board the train for the 45 minute journey back to Knutsford and straight in to Costa!

Stats

Distance: 26.25 miles

Time: 3:23:49

Janathon Total Distance: 90.17 miles

Streak Total Distance: 1715 miles