Happy New Year to all ππ₯Really enjoying reading about everyoneβs end of/start of year runs , especially if youβve grabbed a graduation badge or Pb , as many of you have π Well done π₯³πππ»ββοΈ
I couldnβt decide yesterday whether to make my run ( wk 1 magic plan 5K distance run ) a 2020 run or leave it for 2021 π€·πΌββοΈπ€ .
On balance βNew beginnings β are more my thing than βEndingsβ or βLast ofβ so I chose my run to be a βThe First of β ππ
No offence 2020, but Iβd rather give 2021 my run ππ and as much as Iβm quite a reflective person , Iβve done enough of that in 2020 too. Itβs the time of year for it of course , if only to inform how youβre going to approach the new year, and surely 2020 has informed us most adequately ππ
I am fortunate, I have enough and Iβm grateful for it . My key word for 2021 will be βSimplifyβ
All of the above apply to running too ππ»ββοΈππ
Every now and again I make things complicated for myself π€·πΌββοΈπ so last night I decided I was getting back to βsimplesβ π¦¦( sadly lacking in the emoji department , no meerkats π)
So I was going to run , I was going to get up early so I could run at my favourite time and my only requirement would be to run SLOWLY for 5KM.
And I did.
Lovely enjoyable run , kept it close to home , had an idea what a 4K loop might be and adapted to get to 5 . Landing 2 mins from home .
I underestimated the ice ( donβt know why π€·πΌββοΈ Itβs been π₯ΆβοΈπ₯Ά for days)
Clearly because I had decided to run there would be none of course ! ππ€£π
I was going to do a loop starting from my house , up towards the village and then head down to coast road , golf course and back . I knew I might need to do some ad hoc βadding onβ to make 5 K though. I set off and quickly realised how slippy it was so that slowed my pace very nicely for first 1K.
I decided to make my first βadd on β by going further up the road and joining the village High St . It was deserted ( apart from a small queue forming at the local Co op π€·πΌββοΈπ€·πΌββοΈ) and it less frosty than some of the exposed pavements , what a treat to be βrunning down the High Stβ πππ»ββοΈπ
Itβs a lovely old village so the pavements are half the size of βmodernβ ones , I passed the butcher, the two bakers , no candlestickmakers but a post office, chemist , cafe, deli , chip shop, podiatrist, osteopath and silversmiths. ππ»ββοΈππ»ββοΈππ»ββοΈ This list, apart from location is why we retired here ππ we have a Doctors and vets too so weβre sorted π
At the end of the High St I turned down a little road that would after 1 K lead to the golf course and my old familiar road to the lighthouse . I checked my watch for pace when I felt good and also when I felt things were a bit laboured . Iβm really going to ensure I finally manage my pace this year and get better at knowing where I need to be and reacting when not. I only looked at my watch again when I thought I might be approaching 4Km so that I could judge where to put the last km in order to land near home .
This turned out to be about 500 m down the lighthouse road , which was fine and I doubled back to go home . It was about 9am and things were stirring , plenty of golfers popping up on the greens now and the early New Yearβs Day walkers were getting out and about .
My last few runs have been at night , just the way I could fit them in but Iβm glad to be back on a morning run and will try and get back to that . Much more to see and motivate . I did the whole of C25K at 6:30/7 and I do believe thereβs no better hot shower after an early morning run and my cup coffee tastes better after a morning run too ....... nothing like it ππ
I used a playlist that I had made for my C25K wk5 R3 ( remember that one π) I was so organised , so much thought went into that playlist , the tempo , length of each track etc ππ but it was also so motivational too .
Anyway LottieMW βS post yesterday when she was listening to βFreebirdβ reminded me of all the good tracks so many of us were listing at that time
So today was
Bruce Hornsby - The Way it is
Dire Straits - Sultans of Swing
Bruce Springsteen - Thunder Road
Eagles - Take it Easy
Elvis- Suspicious Minds
Billy Joel - Uptown Girl
Elton John - Crocodile Rock
Bruce Hornsby - End of the Innocence
All pure nostalgia and all strategically placed to get me for warm up , Run 20 etc ππ Very βon it β but it worked ππ€·πΌββοΈ
So Iβm going to continue with the distance plan at my Happy Pace , any more Pbβs can evolve at their own pace and I will stick with gradual and consolidation. Although I may use the 2.5 run for a bit of 1K speed as I enjoyed the speed challenge π
Happy Running , wherever you run and whatever you want to achieve πππ»ββοΈπ
Just keep getting out π₯³
Photo,: todayβs run stats , which surprised me as I thought I was struggling and slow at the end π€·πΌββοΈ
and a few from where I run over the course of last few weeks