I didn’t want to run this morning, but I missed my Thursday run because it was pouring with rain, and yesterday it was snowing here in the fens. So I forced myself to get ready to run; it was cold, so I put an extra tee shirt under my long sleeved top, long running tights and windproof jacket. Sun visor, of course! I picked my white one today as it was before dawn and I wanted to be visible. Checked in the mirror - yes, still gorgeous 😊 and off I go! Quick warm up walk down to the washes to grab a photo.
I had already decided on 8K as I have a very nice 8K circular route; but just to make things a little different I went anti clockwise instead of clockwise. I headed out of the village on the A1101. Interesting fact - it is the lowest road in the country - along its 53 miles it rarely rises above sea level. It was a busy low road this morning, but drivers were considerate and made room for me. I had company on the first part of my run - many hundreds of Whooper swans were taking to the fields, calling to each other as they flew. It was quite a sight! On a recent walk with a friend, we saw about a thousand of them a short distance away in a farmer’s field.
I wanted to run in Zone 3 this morning, so I did keep more of an eye on my watch. I had to pull back a few times, but pretty much kept to it apart from the last couple of kilometres when I like to speed up.
During my run, I listened to Coach Bennett being grateful. I didn’t actually feel very grateful when I set out, but he won me over during the course of the run!
I turn left onto a single track road with farmers’ fields on either side and pass isolated dwellings. I love this part of the route because it’s so rural. I don’t see anyone at all this morning and there is no traffic. It suits my mood. Coming out again onto the other main road into the village, I meet traffic again and have to stop to cross the road. My phone pings with a message. I feel momentary annoyance, and check that the message isn’t urgent. It’s from a friend, asking if I’m OK. This is a grateful run, so I think about being grateful that I have friends who care. I’ll answer her when I get home, she will guess I’m out on a run.
Coming back into the village now, I let myself speed up and go into Zone 4. I’m really enjoying this increase in pace! I start the last kilometre and it feels like I’m flying! I pass a neighbour out walking, another runner, and he steps to one side on the path to allow me plenty of room. He smiles in encouragement and I manage to gasp a ‘good morning’ to him. Definitely not ‘easy conversational pace’ right now! Another 200 metres and my run is over. I arrive back home to do my stretches and suddenly it starts pouring with rain. I remember to be grateful I arrived home just in time! 😊
Written by
Jools2020
Graduate10
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Nice run Jools and a good 8k under your belt !There is always a great feeling of achievement especially if you didn't feel like running in the first place !
I so enjoyed reading your post... and what a gorgeous dawn light reflecting on the fens in your photo! I was very sceptical when (in a different context) someone first introduced me to the practice of gratitude, but i found it remarkably effective and powerful for such a seemingly simple thing. I certainly don’t manage to keep it up but it’s great to return to it. Thanks for the reminder; I’ll definitely try that on one of my runs in the coming weeks. And the swans... You took me back to a day on the Naze when a huge flock of geese ascended behind the dunes. You can feel the force of their wing beats. Viscerally. Almost frightening. (Probably akin to the thunder-snow reported yesterday.)
I’ve only just found this forum, and now realise where some of you more experienced runners have been posting, so I’ll be lurking and learning while I’m in the limbo world of consolidation.
I don’t quite know how you’ve managed to miss this forum, but never mind, you’re here now. Welcome! Just think, all those posts you’ve missed out on; it could keep you busy for days! There’s yet another forum if you want to run for longer than 10K, the Marathon forum. Soon after I started C25K I sneaked a peek in there. “Never!” I thought. But - guess what? Now I do post in there, too! Just goes to show! 😊
I could feel your mood in this post Jools. Beautiful photo contrasting the light and dark, perhaps inside you too. I’ve noticed myself how good it feels eventually to have achieved a run I didn’t feel like running at the beginning. Often feels like medicine for me, and since running, this is the first year in probably about 30years, that I haven’t felt a dip in mood through autumn and in to winter. Sounds like Coach Bennett helped and it turned out to be a run worth running. Hope you got to have your breakfast of champions! 🥣 Have a good weekend 🤗 🏃♀️
How perceptive of you! Running certainly is like medicine. Indeed I did have my breakfast of champions, with seeds, half a banana and maple syrup! Have a good weekend yourself 😊👍
It’s hard when you don’t want to run isn’t it... I felt a bit like that this morning too but my gremlin kicked me out the front door and I wasn’t in the mood to argue... 🚪👺 Well done 👏👏👏
I was definitely like you this morning! Got up to make a cuppa and looked out to see it wasn’t raining or windy - just cold. Jumped in the shower before I changed my mind. So glad I did! 👍
Sounds like a good run this morning Julia - especially as you didn't feel like it. I had the opposite - I wanted desperately to run this morning, but my body was telling me not too. But I'm so glad - and grateful - that I made the effort and I did it.
It's amazing how you always feel so much better after a run isn't it!
Sounds like a great run jools2020! I’m a big fan of NRC Coach Bennett now I’ve got used to him. He always seems to say the right thing and at the right time!🙂 One thing I’ve noticed is the NRC app gets confused occasionally when I’m doing the longer distance runs, and suddenly starts saying the script from other runs. Luckily I tend to use NRC for time-based runs and they work fine. I use Strava to do the distance calculations as I can start it from my watch.😀
Coach Bennett is definitely my new best friend! 😊 I haven’t noticed any mixing up between the runs, that’s odd. Maybe reinstall the app? I always use my Garmin watch to record the runs as well and when I sync to the Garmin app, it automatically uploads to Strava.
Thanks, Rebecca 🥰 we had quite a bit of snow! About 3 inches on the car and lots of sludge on the road. All washed away by the end of the day by the rain that came afterwards. Today we had freezing fog. I went for a walk with my neighbour, but we realised that the paths and roads were so icy we had to walk on the grass, so I’m pleased I ran yesterday.😊
Wow that is a lot. Great that you went out yesterday. Nice that you went out for a walk. OMG it really does feel so cold at the moment. Take care 🏃🏻♀️💪🐻🐻🐻
I love the sound of that run! A run to be proud of.I know what you mean about the negative splits feeling good. Speeding up is a great feeling!
Winter is, I now know, a challenging time to get longer runs in, especially as it's so dark at all the times of day I actually have time to run. So we'll done!
Thank you, Roxdog. 🙏 After the run, I realised I had ended in a much better place than when I started. So glad I have running to turn to! Definitely a challenging time to get the longer runs in, I might have to rejig my schedule completely. I don’t have to do my longer run at the weekend, or even first thing in the morning. I can adapt!
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