Bonking on purpose, walking on tired legs, new mantra, Look ahead to Week 12, and is it a Gnome?

This morning having got up at 6am, put some washing out on the washing line, I went for a 15 mile run with my weighty rucksack on.

I had a few nooks and crannies in Reedham that I had not yet explored, one of which was a public footpath which revealed a set of steps that led down into a hollow - I will do photos next week.
Beyond that it was a fairly mundane steady 12-ish minute mile running except I had decided I wanted to know how far could I keep running without topping up with food - obviously I drank water as appropriate because it was sunny clear skies and I was not aiming to be dehydrated.
I was wondering if I would make it through the whole 15 miles but I bonked just before the end of mile 14, after 2 hours and 50 minutes of activity.

Bonking at that stage allowed me (unplanned) to find out my walking speed on very tired legs especially given they did 5 miles on Friday,7 miles on Saturday, on top of the 14 miles just done.
So for the final full mile, I walked as briskly as I could sustain, and it took me 16 minutes 49 seconds - this is useful to know as it starts to give me a sense of my walking speed when I need to give my body time to recover, and also I can start to get a better sense of potential finishing times for the big day itself.

I have been reading a translated Japanese book by Haruki Murakami called "What I talk about when I talk about running"- I am currently about a third through it and it is a refreshing read of a Japanese author who likes to run, and is part travelogue, part training log, and part reminiscence covering his preparation for the 2005 New York Marathon.
One of the comments he makes refers to a quote (origin unknown) that I am adopting as my mantra;


With week 11 complete, Week 12 is the penultimate week of serious training, and will involve 3 x 6 miles (one easy, then two medium effort), an 8 mile on Saturday, and a 20 mile run on Sunday.

I did take one photo before I went out for the 15 mile run, that of me in my gear and with my rucksack on - I will leave you all to decide how Gnomish it is......