Day 71: Water, Wrangling and a Return to the Pavement

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A Brief Interlude of Indoor Rain

I promised an update after yesterday’s unexpected experiment in indoor waterfalls and here it is: the situation was sufficiently dire to warrant an overnight hotel stay. Apparently, a house without a working toilet is officially uninhabitable, though I must admit I would have reached that conclusion slightly sooner than our insurance provider did. Every flood has a silver lining, though and in this case, it came in the form of a rather excellent cooked breakfast.

The emergency plumber was summoned and after much investigation and muttered incantations, the culprit was found lurking in the wall between the wardrobe and the ensuite shower. Water, as it turns out, is alarmingly ambitious when given the opportunity to go places it shouldn’t. 

It spread with all the grace of an overturned bucket, even taking out my three-piece suit collection—an attack on my very professional identity! The water is back on now, but the real battle begins: the clash of titans that is the insurance company, the loss adjusters and the ever-elusive contractors.


Back to the Pavement

With domestic chaos temporarily contained, I turned my attention back to the marathon training that had been rudely interrupted by my home’s bid to become an indoor swimming pool. Today’s session started with a 15-minute warm-up, leading into 7 x 40-second efforts at around 4min/km pace—decidedly brisk, but thankfully not quite ‘being-chased-by-a-wild-animal’ brisk. Each of these efforts was followed by a three-minute recovery, during which I have now developed the habit of walking for the first minute to bring my heart rate back from its enthusiastic attempt to break free from my chest.

The weather was, for once, behaving itself, which meant I could get away with wearing just a single layer. It’s always a pleasant change not to finish a run feeling like I’ve been lightly simmered.

Looking Ahead

Tomorrow will be a challenge—not just because of the mileage, but because I need to squeeze in a two-and-a-half-hour run before what promises to be a very full day. The only real option is an early start, which means my alarm will be set for a time that can only be described as ‘unreasonable.’ Still, needs must and if I can survive an unexpected indoor monsoon, I can certainly survive a long run before dawn.

Location: Sittingbourne, UK

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