I even managed to slightly sunburn my face!!!
Ive returned to Bridge to 10k podcast again to try to get past my having to walk so frequently. And today was Week2 run1. Last week I was running for 4 lots of 10 mins with 1 min walks - this week it is 3 lots of 15 mins with 1 min walks between.
I wasn’t too sure how I felt about this as I have struggled to keep running lately but I thought I’d just slow it down a bit and see how I went. So I did my warm up walk and then off I went. It was quite nice reliving the old soundtrack and they felt like familiar friends and I found that 10 minutes had gone by without me noticing. The voice prompts kept me going too “ you have run for 10 mins now” “ 5 mins left” “ 2 mins left” “ 1 min left” and “walk!!”.
So that was ok....I had detoured slightly from my usual route as there are lots of railings up for the Covid Testing Centre where I usually join the river trail, and I have to negotiate clambering over a low wall now or over a rail, so I went lower down the town and then cut across and joined it about half a mile further in. It was really warm and sunny and I was glad I had dispensed with a jacket and also grabbed my sunnies before I left home.
I had procrastinated quite a lot before running as I had had a bad nights sleep and thought I would feel better after eating something so I waited for my breakfast to go down before leaving the house. Consequently, and also due to the weather, the trail beside the river was packed with walkers, dog walkers, parents with small kids on bikes, adults in bikes as well as loads of other runners. Quite handy though as I had to keep my wits about me to weave in and out and also dodge racing bikes coming up behind me at great speed. It seems to be the thing now when you are riding a bike to not use a bell. You just shout “ on your right” and expect everyone else to hurl themselves into a bush so that you can pass. Bl***y annoys me!! Just get a sodding bell!!!
Anyway 2nd 15 mins flew past and I was really enjoying myself. SOOOO glad I hadn’t worn a jacket though as it was really warm now!! On that 2nd walk I glanced at my watch and saw I’d gone past 3k and , as I’ve not managed to get past 5k this year, I thought I’d see if I could make it to 6k. I had turned around at this point and was heading back again, squinting into the sun as my sunnies kept steaming up, and wishing I could find my “CatCrap” for my glasses. I might have to give in and buy some more!!
And then I was running again!! Strangely this run I seemed to have settled more into my stride and debated carrying straight in at the end of that 3rd 15 mins but as It turned out I had to cross a road so I walked up and down until the cars cleared allowing me to cross and then a minute later ran the last 6 minutes. 54 mins total (3 mins walking in that) and 6k completed.
I walked home with a happy smiley glow ( and sunburnt cheeks which are still very pink even now 6 hours later). Then after my shower I sat down to look at my stats and both Strava and Garmin had decided I’d been for a WALK!!! Cheeky sods!!! I wasn’t THAT slow!! 9:09 min/km or 14:27 min/mile. Ive run slower than that before !!! I was flabbergasted!!
I hastened to change that to a Run but it did take the glow off me a bit.