Long Run to Lawshall Suffolk

The end of my 9th week of training for a half marathon called for a 13 miler. Luckily once again the weather was ideal for running, bright blue skies and no wind. At the same time it was cold and the overnight frost had left intricate patterns on the cars and made for some icy patches on the wet roads first thing this morning.

As my long run extends I am travelling further afield and my route today took me to Lawshall via Horsecroft, Pinford End, and Hawstead. The route was on road all of the way but I rarely saw any cars and was untroubled.
The church here is St Andrews at Hawstead , a sprawling village 

After my temp run on Friday I was a little stiff still and with the cool air took a while to get going. I think I could have done with having something to eat before running this sort of distance but as I was running by about 7.45am I didn't apart from a cup of tea and plenty of water. I took with me some Powerbar Ride Shots as the name suggests I think they are designed for cyclists but are designed for high intensity exercise. The blurb on the pack suggests :-

They're formulated with PowerBar C2MAX dual source energy blend for more energy to muscles. In fact, C2MAX was designed to have the same blend of energy sources that were shown in breakthrough studies to deliver 20�55% more energy than glucose alone, and in another study to improve athletes' cycling times by 8%. 

I bought them at the new Holland and Barrett health food store in Bury St Edmunds . I took 3 of these on my run and realised after wards that these are not for vegetarians so I will ditch the rest of them. A little hard to say based on one usage whether they provided an energy boost. The problem was I didn't have anyway water with me and without the the lemon flavour was sticky sweet. As an experiment  I will try something different for my next long run. I guess armed with a drink these may work for you.


My mile splits today were 8.55,9.28,8.54,8.37,8.49,9.01,8.38,8.33,8.27,9.10,8.43,8.31 and 9.38



The route was generally climbing on the way out and more downhill on the way back apart from the final mile which has 3 stiff climbs.

My total time for the 13 miles was 1hr 55mins and 28 secs. Happy with this. Not quick but main thing was the confidence gained from competing this. I know that I should be able to complete the half marathon at the end of March as long as I am healthy and not injured. Whether I can run any quicker will depend on the course , the weather and my state of mind.


Looking at my running log the last time I ran this far was when I ran the Stowmarket Half Marathon on the 29th March 2009 in 1.45.37




The Metcalfe Arms at Hawstead Suffolk is a real ale pub and consequently has a listing on CAMRA the campaign for real ale. There is a Metcalfe Society which is a one name geneology study site.

There were plenty of snowdrops on the banks of the road this morning, they are a flower that we have never been able to get to grow in our garden

On this route you pass an old school house which is a now a private residence.

This monument at Lawshall commerates Flight Sergeant Johannes Bartholomeus Jat Van Mesdag of No 64 Squadron who aged 21 whilst flying his Mustang Mk 111 lost his life on the 6th March 1945 near this spot on his Mothers birthday. The statue was erected in November 2009.


I haven't been able to find to much about this pilot but presume he may have been based at the Suffolk airforce based at Bentwaters.

Apparently these planes were named as P-51's in the US . 

The statue had fresh flowers.