Three runs for me; one for M. There’s a bit of a hiccough because I’m recalibrating my week to be in synch with my app’s concept of ‘week’.
All runs with relaxed nasal breathing routine; attention to arms, body scans, and cadence. All with qigong warmup, plus 5-min warmup walk, 5-min cool down, and at-home stretches.
R1: 5.35km, 40:03 - Post-Arctic comeback run (after full week’s rest). Posted on Sunday, because I was so excited.😁
R2: 5.03km, 39:15. Overcast and mild at 6-7 degrees, with rain starting at the end. 7.30 start. Like R1, I headed straight for the old lane, running its length three times with similar repeats on parallel streets, making a diversion to visit Mary’s statue (now sadly surrounded by a circle of orange plastic barriers). I also looped around the minipark and orchards a few times. This is the land of noisy sparrows and (on this day) equally vocal starlings. My app’s gps map looks a bit like a rectangular llama trailing a leash.🦙 Maybe because I’d had just one rest day, or maybe because nearly all of this was on tarmac (a few short bits on hoggin), but I found myself feeling surprisingly sluggish. No matter, the app tells me that this is my fastest ever 5k, even though it’s clear from R1 stats that my 5k on Sunday was faster by over half a minute.🤔 I took just two 30-second walk intervals, the first at c.3km. The splits are a bit erratic, but that seems to echo the minipark’s terrain, and, unsurprisingly, overall pace was a bit slower (7:49 min per km) than Sunday (7:29).
R3: 4.03km, 32:23. M’s comeback after a fortnight or so. Therefore, nearby park and on counterclockwise circuit. Also just after 7.30. Part overcast, part lovely sky, with a milky sunrise (photo); feels-like 3 degrees. Mud tracks quite firm; perfect running surface in many ways. Parakeets and crows made their presence known; gulls peppered the grass; tits darted about around the parkkeepers’ compound. Full run, with no walk intervals, chatting with M for much of the time. Comfortable, steady, very relaxed and enjoyable - for me - and felt like it was all over in a jiffy. I reflected on how cadence adjustments help improve the run feel, even if they can also feel more tiring; an interesting paradox. Also liked thinking about feet lifting and lightness. We took things extra slowly, but M says he still found it tough. On the plus, his BP has responded well - and much more emphatically than it has to the indoor rowing he’s been doing. Will see if this pattern continues... if, of course, he continues.
Hope everyone is doing well. 🏃🏼♀️👍😁 Best wishes for weekend.
week 2 begins! 
HU10K
