It was a lot windier out there than I had thought, cocooned indoors. The weather forecast (or should I say post-cast, as I didn’t check it before I left the house) said 48km/h gusts and I felt the full force of them at various points in the route.
The plan was to go a little bit faster than on the long runs, at a sub 7’ pace. It was hard work. No valiant unzipping and tying the jacket round my waist whilst running today; I was glad to take the opportunity to stop and rearrange clothes when a herd of cyclists came cycling by on a narrow road. One of them paused and asked if I was OK - he thought I had lost my bicycle! So funny, and very sweet.
I battled on, not feeling the ease that comes with the +7’ pace. The wind was full force in my face on one stretch and I did a U-turn for a couple of hundred metres for a bit of light relief and recovery before tackling it again. It was like running up a hill on a flat. At just over 4K a neighbour flagged me down and what with what’s going on in the world, I stopped for a chat. He is an older chap and very pragmatic, said he has had pneumonia and the flu and if it isn’t COVID that gets him, it is going to be something else. We waved cheerfully at a safe distance and a little refreshed in body, if not mind, I finished the last K at a respectable 6’01” pace with a triumphant leap under the stone arch.
This Vitality World Cup is quite confusing. The runs are all showing under ‘My runs’ but in the HU team members list, it still shows as 10.75k, which is the total of the two runs I did on March 8 & 9. The 8K on March 13 and 5K today aren’t showing. Am I missing something or is it just a glitch?! Ah well. I wore the t-shirt and was with you all in spirit!
Talking of clothes - I thought I would wear my cotton joggers worn yesterday rather than leggings to save on washing. This won’t happen again - I felt sweaty-bottomed and in danger of experiencing thigh-chafing. Unpleasant.
My 10K training buddy is doing well. We have moved on from sausage rolls (see text above) to texting each other our distances. The response is usually something along the lines of “you git” but whatever works, right?! She ran 5K followed by 5K on the bike the other day, so I’m impressed and bit worried I won’t be able to keep up now!
Stay safe out there, peeps x
[5K+ speed] Laura, you're such a teaser!
Its a PW 5k! Hooray!
Week 4 