Today started pretty well: as I'd planned to, I drove to my parents and left the car there, as the boys would be there after work. That meant the run to work was only going to be 6 miles, rather than 7, and for the first half, I was feeling great and setting a pretty good pace.
I saw Kieran at the bus stop in town again which was great, and at that point I was still feeling like I was going well, but as I headed out of town and towards the Trent, the wind changed and become stronger, and I started to feel like I'd been pushing too much.
The last couple of miles to work were far more of a struggle than last week and I really felt as though I should have been able to manage the run more easily and arrived at work far more sweaty than I'd planned.
I then spent most of the time at work feeling knocked down by the experience, I was really sluggish, and above all, starving! I managed to eat more food than I thought possible during the work day and gradually started to feel better, but couldn't shake the feeling that if I ran home, I'd be shattered again and not able to do this evening's planned long run with my friends.
I felt like I'd be a bit of a failure if I didn't run home, but eventually I decided to accept Ellie's kind offer of a lift home. I'm very glad I did, as tonight's run was far, far more enjoyable than the run home from work would have been, and further too!
The group tonight was Kieran, Stuart, Ellie and Martin and I, and we set out from Ellie & Stu's at around 7:15 and headed down towards town. From there, we tackled the long slog up Woodborough Rd and then along Mapperley Top. Somewhere along that part of the run, Martin moved into uncharted territories, as he's a relatively novice runner (though a very talented one) and last week's 5 mile run with us was his first over 5K.
As we headed down towards Arnold, we passed 10K and Ellie once again seemed to kick into a higher gear, meaning Kieran (who'd been really comfortable until then) started to drop back. From there on, the pace was steady until the final climb up Hucknall Road, where Ellie struggled for a bit before she, Kieran and I sprinted to the finish.
Throughout the final part of the run, Martin ran well ahead with Stuart, occasionally sprinting back to us and then ahead again, I was blown away by how easy he made it look, considering that he was running almost twice as far as he ever had before.
Tonight's run ended up being Kieran's longest ever too at 9.58 miles and was definitely a great way to spend the evening and totally changed my perspective on the day - having felt a bit rubbish for most of, I now feel great again :).
Update for the year to date:
Running: 115 miles
Walking: 13 miles
Cycling: 84 miles
Swimming: 0 miles
Total: 213.26 miles
Running streak: 57 days (started 23/11/2011)
A good commentary. Broke PR for distance. Got date with girl. Win.
ReplyDeleteMike I’m glad the evening took a turn for the better. I always enjoy runs made up as I go along more than the ones where you know what’s to come. I can see how feeling you’d repeat the morning’s experience would put you off! You are really putting in the miles, very impressive. And enjoying it too which is the main thing :)
ReplyDeleteWell done all especially Kieran. Is he logging the number of miles he is doing too?
ReplyDeleteThanks all - Martin, you should blog about tomorrow night :).
ReplyDeleteMiles, thanks I'm very happy with how the month is going exercise-wise, it's the blogging that's harder!