Funny old week this week, seem to have spent more time staring at computer monitors on virtual conference calls or driving than usual. Plus, a bit of a mix up again...
Week 6 Run 2 was 5k on a treadmill. The weather was atrocious, but I was working at a location which has its own gym- so I booked a slot and went for it on the treadmill. It seemed a bit weird looking at the same view out of the window for the whole time, and it did seem a little bit harder somehow than running on tarmac or grass, and somehow I didn't feel quite the sense of achievement looking at numbees on a digital display rather than the GPS track on Strava. Plus as the treadmill was set to "miles" I spent a bit too much time trying to mentally calculate how far I'd run, so in the end I just aimed for 35 minutes.
Today was the biggie, the first 9k, and I'll be honest here- after the two 8k runs, the first of which I struggled with, I wasn't sure whether I'd manage the full distance. I purposely set off slowly, concentrating on not rushing, trying to keep my pace about 6.45/km or slower. Also planned my route with a mixture of tarmac, grass and gravel paths which also help keep the pace down.
Toxic 10 came and went, as did the usual Saturday morning kamikaze cyclists and trip wire dog leads... on the plus side, a couple of friendly squirrels helped me on my way again, and the weather, although cold, was bright sunshine.
Hit 7k at roughly the expected point, then suddenly my legs metamorphosed firstly into lead, then depleted uranium... ah go on, keep going, 8k and they haven't fallen off yet... I know I do roughly 1200 steps per km, so every time my right foot hit the ground I was counting down, and I'd just about got to zero when Ms Strava said "distance 9 kilometres"... slowed down to a walk, and I genuinely thought my legs were going to give way. Then just as I left the country park for the 5 minutes walk home through residential streets, my middle aged bladder informed me it wanted to be emptied NOW... if there had been anything left in the tank I'd have run home... but... 🤔
Anyway, I managed it somehow, 9k in just a few seconds over the hour. Rest day tomorrow, then Week 7 here we come!
week3run1 ✅. 3 x 17 mins with 1 min walks. 
How did your parkrun or (not)parkrun go?
