Pre-run faffage today included: prising my son away from Captain Underpants; getting him to put on his underpants and other attire; a bit of grumbling; pumping up bicycle tyres; raising the seat; administering first aid and comfort to child when he braked using only the front brake on a downhill with his bum off the saddle, causing him to spill headfirst over the handlebars; adjusting the brakes; having an impromptu braking lesson; getting the bike in the car... and we were off! π€ͺ
We went to a lovely riverside path that meanders from a village into the centre of Canterbury. Perfect for accident-prone child cyclists. The weather looked a bit undecided, as did the child, so I shelved expectations and just thought we would see how we went.
It was lovely. There were swans on the river and sheep on the path. The rain stayed away and there were no more accidents. There were a couple of short pit stops to put away a coat and to try to fashion some sort of bandana to cover his cold ears (cold ears?!) but apart from that we made steady progress, plodding along, him chatting merrily to me about everything from Star Wars to Lego to what swans eat and they arenβt gears, they are levels... it was kind of hard to keep track, but he didnβt seem to expect much of a response so it worked well enough... π
He said his legs were a bit tired at the 3k mark, so we turned around and plodded back. My legs were in agreement - 20-25 minutes seems to be a toxic zone for me - but we hit 5k and I felt refreshed, so I kept going for the last 1k to bag my longest run yet. Then it was a nice cool down pushing child on the roundabout π₯΅
I was pleased to have run 6k; even more pleased that there were some negative splits; and even more pleased that my son and I got ourselves out there. Now for hot chocolate, sausage and onion sandwiches and a movie! π
And some ice for my left knee, which is just letting me know itβs there... π€