Magic Plan (Distance ) Wk 2 Runs 1,2 & 3
I feel these runs have taken weeks to complete but when I look over them I did actually do the 3 runs over 8 days which was ok.
I started the year off well getting the 3 runs of wk 1 done between 29/12/20 and 3/1/21 but then had almost a week of ‘emergency childcare’ for our three grandsons . 🐵🐵🐵 There was certainly no surplus of time or energy left for running having 3 ‘live wire’ 🥷😈🦸♂️ boys in the house .
‘Hats off’ to all you running parents 👏👏
Like most we have had days of solid ice , not so much snow, and sleety horrid days which added to the general frustration . Although there seemed to be plenty of runners out on the icy pavements I couldn’t contemplate the embarrassment of landing up in an overstretched A&E department . Also the very thought of an injury putting paid to my running progress kept me confined to ‘teetering about’ on the dog walks 😂🐕🦺🐕🦺
I eventually got a break during a late afternoon thaw and just before the rain came. I went out intending to do a 2.5 K ended up changing my mind and doing a 5K. I figured I should make the most of it and it seemed a waste to cut it short having taken so long to get to a run 🤷🏼♀️🏃🏻♀️Also It had started to drizzle and as I was wet anyway might as well continue .
Often I find the shorter runs uncomfortable , usually taking about 2K to get into any sort of flow or rhythm so this added to the decision to carry on . When I got home I found it was meant to be a 3 K anyway 😂🤣, I hadn’t read the plan correctly 🙄🤷🏼♀️ Still, alls well that ends well 😂, not my fastest 5K as my splits were a bit erratic as I tried to dodge the odd bits of lingering ice on the edges of the road .
It was a bit of a confidence boost just to get out, quite frankly, even though it was another nighttime run and I definitely am more an early morning runner.
My 3 K was next and I did this run to the NRC Guided ‘Suckcess’ Run which was going to be a little longer than I needed but I just listened to the end of it on my walk. I like Coach Bennett and when he tells me to Run Smart I really do try 😂😂 He knows me so well 👍😉 it also resonates when he says we often run ‘towards ‘ the run instead of just running ‘with’ the run . I think I do that sometimes which is why I have issues with speeding up ‘to run towards the run ‘.
I was pleased with my negative splits on this run ( I must have been listening 😂😂) Also I had managed out a little earlier , not quite dark , just that ‘end of day’ quality of light to a late winters afternoon .
Run 3 was the 6K run and I had to give a bit more thought to where to go to get 6K in. I don’t like ‘manufacturing’ lots of loops or repeats to get a distance in, it always feels ‘contrived’ and I much prefer just ‘running somewhere ‘🤷🏼♀️ Fussy , I know 🙄😂
Anyway, I would need to run from my village and along to the next village and back via the beachfront to get this done so that sounded all good for an early Saturday morning run 👌🏃🏻♀️😊
So I left from home and headed up into my village to run the length of the High St (which I’m becoming quite fond of actually 😊) a left turn takes me round in square , past the cathedral ruins and then back up onto the main road that runs along to the next village .
All of this is feeling quite natural and I find myself sort going ‘plod ,two,three,four’ in my head as I fall into my rhythm and for the most part stay in that beat. It’s a lovely morning and I pass a flock of sheep in a field with the sea and sunrise as a backdrop , quite wintery and beautiful . The flock has a Heron joining them this morning , quite at home amongst them 😂.
As I approach the next village I take a turn downhill which brings me down a very steep hill to the beach. It looks lovely this morning, an almost deserted 2K of sand , tide out and looking very inviting. I headed on though , resisting the temptation to sit and look at it from one of the many benches along the front. Onwards up past the golf course to the junction that links to my favourite road to the lighthouse.
At this junction I decide to look at my watch to check how much I’d covered ( I had tried to avoid up until now) , I was delighted to discover I was at 5K 🙂
Good to know that what I’d done was a perfect 5K route for the future too 👌
I wasn’t far from home , having done a fairly circular route so I continued on another 500 m and then headed for home.
At the end of my 6K I’m just a street away from home . It’s been a good run and I’m relieved that although it was just the weeks break I’ve managed to get ‘back to the starting line’ and turn up again ( another of Coach Bennett’s 😂)
So at long last my wk 2 runs are done 🏃🏻♀️🏃🏻♀️🏃🏻♀️ Thank goodness ☺️
I’m really enjoying stretching my routes and managing to keep them fresh and enjoyable and then adapting them to increase by the Km each week .
I’m glad I started this plan , I’m feeling the same fear, motivation and satisfaction as I did in those early days of C25K and it feels good.
So far so good 🙂
week3run1 ✅. 3 x 17 mins with 1 min walks. 
How did your parkrun or (not)parkrun go?
