I say three runs, but my app counts weeks from Sunday, so I’m technically at four. 🤨 Today, I seized the opportunity before the beast arrives; I fear there’ll not be runs feasible over the coming days, not even in balmy London. I’ve been running and reporting my weeks on Sundays, so I’m also out of sync with the app’s sense of time. Note to self: May need to simplify to avoid confusion. Sticking to my usual method, my three runs this week have amounted to 19.41 km. (And then just think: Over a four-week month, that would be.... OMG... not that far off 100! As is clear, the misprision between me and the app is leading to all sorts of mathematical speculation.)
I’ve been running solo, which means I get to choose everything: earlier timing of run (out well before 7.30 to chase the sunrise), directions taken from door, routes from A to B, whether to make clockwise or counterclockwise loops, whether or not to seek out opportunities to go up inclines, etc. 😁
All runs were bookended as usual: mobilisation qigong exercises at home, 5 mins brisk warmup walk, 5 mins cool down walk, solid stretch routine trending ever yoga-wards (hip flexor stretch now has arms and sternum raised; quad stretch is that one-legged move with both arms reaching back to hold the foot; and for me, ITB is just far better addressed with yoga). All runs were continuing my new year’s project: practise full but comfortable nasal breathing and running ‘light’ (as I can), now also with my arm exercises added. The breathing project means I am jeffing, with intervals determined by my own gauging of my body’s ease/stress (and need for hankie moments). As in previous weeks, I’m finding that this focus is all-consuming, in a really good way. I’m still finding that as the run progresses I’m switching intervals more often.
R1: 01:03:27, 7.71k. 😁🏃🏼♀️🦌 Both distance and time are new for me! Mild at c. 6 degrees. Beautiful deep golden sunrise with warm bronzing greys. (Photo.) Destination park, via orchards, minipark, allotments, old lane and alleys (a variant on last Sunday’s 60-min route). I added a visit to the Mary Wollstonecraft statue (the little woman has no added robes at present), somewhat thwarted by giant puddles on every path through the green. Patches of purple crocuses were in bloom on the lawns of the flats.
R2: 41:31, 5.34k. Another beautiful sunrise of electric pinks and rich mauves against cool lemons and pale blue. Supposedly still mild, but the air felt very sharp and parked cars were covered with condensation. Local venue, with zigzagging into the centre as well as outer circuits. Park keepers laying new bark in playground. Snowdrops are emerging alongside the runners’ mud paths.
R3: 49:52, 6.36k. Overcast and mild, with heavy grey clouds prominent, darker still to west, but a strip of brightness on southern horizon. During the run, there were breaks and the clouds gained cumulus forms. An amazing sight of the City towers crowned by dark clouds; with some strange optical effects, the blocks took on the appearance of vertical rain. (My photo of this was too poor to share.) A flock of 7 parakeets greeted me 🦜🦜🦜🦜🦜🦜🦜and a much bigger one of calling gulls flying above and alongside made me think about Jools’ whopper swans. This week, the birdsongs have felt very spring-time. I started with a couple of loops of the local park, navigating route-obstructing ‘puddles’, and debris from some unofficial overnight get together, before I made a spontaneous diversion through the streets to the minipark, orchards, snickets, alleys and old lane. I’m always running the lane later in my runs; I should probably switch it around.
My pace is gradually increasing, with both splits and averages pulling more firmly below 8 min per km. I also noticed that my fastest split is between 5km and 6km on the longer runs; I don’t try to achieve that, it’s just a pattern. Maybe it’s growing strength, or maybe the attention to form and lightness? Or both? I don’t think there’s much change to the jeffing ratios, however; I’d have thought that the run segments would grow. Unfortunately, I’m not able to measure this precisely, so it’s a subjective assessment. Still, it’s intriguing to see the pace increasing while the jeffing intervals switch more frequently as the run progresses - which, contrary to the evidence of the splits, I’d have assumed meant I was tiring (apparently not). Really enjoying my runs and this journey of experimentation.
Best wishes for (getting through) the coming days. ❄️❄️❄️💨💨💨
