Strictly speaking (if we abide by my app), today’s run belongs to the coming week, not to the one just gone. And part of me is minded to ‘save’ the run until next week so that I can be in sync with the app and its aggregate weekly/monthly stats, which will save me some back-of-envelope maths. But... there are (for me, exciting) reasons to report it now.😁
My last run was eight days ago, just before the Arctic descended. I’d imagined I’d venture out into this ‘for the experience’ - once it looked safe (I didn’t want to risk adding strain on the local hospital). Then, remembering some advice I’d read (here?), I decided that this week would be near-perfectly timed to be my periodic ‘rest week’ (five and a half months of regular running). So, positively framed thus, I have spent a week not-running and not feeling guilty about not-running. The added bonus was not-fretting about judging outdoor conditions. I’ve done extra online classes in yoga, Pilates and qigong to make up.
Now, here’s the first weirdness. Having stopped running, I noticed the return of what I’ve assumed to be a bit of arthritis in my right hip. This long predates GailXrunning and causes most discomfort when lying in bed (might need a softer mattress?) The niggles I’d observed more recently (same hip, but different place) have gone. What a confusing mess these bodies of ours can be!
Undeterred, I decided that today would be the best choice (weather- and work-wise) for my running comeback. I admit to having felt a tad nervous as I prepared. No idea why! 🤷🏼♀️🤷 Anyway, the jitters were dispatched once out of the door.
My run was solo 🏃🏼♀️ (M opting to stay in bed), starting just before 8.00, after my usual 5-minute brisk walk and the prior-to-that kitchen warmup routine while multitasking to feline needs (cats are not happy about some of my moves!) I’d noticed that one particularly nice section of my runs (the old lane) always came at the end of my sessions, so today I switched it around; that was my first destination. Street orchard, minipark, back-snicket orchard, street jiggle, and there’s the old lane. I really like this spot because it’s quiet, almost traffic free, and it’s great to peek over the garden walls at the backs of old houses or study the new architectural homes on the lane itself. Being my first outing in just over a week, and mindful of my hip, I deliberately set off very, very slowly. At the end of the old lane, I decided not to run back up it (tbh, I’d not really thought about where I’d go after this point, beyond not wanting to go to the busy park). Instead, I veered off through some uncharted residential and main streets (still quiet at this hour) looping all the way to my local park, but approaching it from a fresh direction. Without the counterclockwise-fixated M to demur, I went clockwise, just to see things differently.
The sun was now breaking through an overcast sky - a lovely diffused milky golden light, like turmeric latte. The temperature was zero and a feels-like -3 degrees. The park tracks were nicely firm, the mud deep-frozen, and I was the only runner using them. Everyone else stuck to the pathways. (Was I missing something? Was there some big sign saying ‘keep off the grass’?) I put in a circuit and a half, twice traversing the embankment track and the northern stretch. For part of the former, I was able to take the small high trail (more rabbit track) and then to strike out free-form across the grassy downs. (No mud! Yeah! Run wherever I like!!) I did some active smiling and chatting to the parakeets and pigeons.
Now here’s the other twist: this turned out to be my fastest run since 1st December, when, freshly graduated from c25k, I completed 4.07km in 30:09 mins, with average pace of 7:24 minutes per km. Today was 5.35km, 40:03 minutes, 7:29 average pace. I was not pushing or trying; on the contrary, this was supposed to be a super gentle return-to-run run. Pace was of no interest. But improved pace I got. My splits: 7:52, 7:20, 7:34, 7:34, 7:13. 7:10. OMG! 😳 How?
I was employing nasal breathing, as I have been since new year, keeping it really relaxed - both physically and mentally - using some occasional exhales through the mouth, as and when needed. Since starting this experiment, my overall pace has been straddling the 8:00 minutes per km mark, dipping below it in my most recent runs.
More: Today, I didn’t include my first walk interval until c.3km in (last week, it was c.0.9 to 1km) - and that was primarily to deploy the hankie and for a photo opp. (I hate clearing my nose while running because the whole kerchief kerfuffle knocks my flow and leaves me feeling ‘off’; so I find walking is best as a way to ‘mark the difference’ and then return to the run feeling ‘right’. Maybe I’m a bit weird there! 😂) I slowed to walking pace just two more times, both very brief (10-15 seconds). This is also different to my recent runs, where the intervals have been more frequent. So, this entire run involved only 3 very short walk intervals. My ‘recovery’ time - if that’s the right way to describe the walk segments - seems to be ever swifter. I seem to need fewer walk intervals. And... I go faster?!!
Message seems to be: taking a ‘break’ is really ‘consolidating’. Am I seeing things? Has my running app gone bonkers? Hope not! Has my 2021 breathing project started to yield results? Will this sustain into my next runs? Hope so! 😁😁😆🤞🏃🏼♀️🦌
Happy running or recovering! Hope you are all well.
It’s Week 4 of Ju-Ju’s Magic Running Plan!!! 💥Hump week is here 😊
Curry on Running! 
