The weather this morning was uninviting but Mr OBK and I had already decided we were going running. It was drizzling too, which we discovered as soon as we left the house. A brief discussion, do we go back and eat breakfast, or go back and get waterproofs or just carry on? Option 3 won. After all, we were just going to do a few intervals and if we started running straight away it wouldn't take too long, would it?
Today's run was NRC's Triple 7s again, mainly because I like the longer intervals. Mr OBK doesn't have the NRC app and doesn't run with headphones so I have to give him instructions on these more involved runs. With Triple 7s I just have to say 'start' and 'stop' three times, much less complicated (though I do occasionally pass on words of wisdom like 'half way through this interval', '5, 4. 3, 2, 1' and 'SMILE'.)
Cutting down on the warm up made a noticeable difference to me but I managed a respectable 8'21" for the first seven minute interval. Stopped for the recovery, a blissful 2 1/2 minutes then set off again. 8'30" this time which was probably because the road we were running on had a noticeable gradient. At least it was noticeable when I turned around and realised I now had to run uphill.
The intervals are supposed to be at 5k pace and I do 5k in around 40 minutes when I put my mind to it so I'm happy with the numbers.
For some reason the third interval was totally different. Finally, warmed up properly and running on the flat, wide, compacted sand road with the metaphorical scent of home in my nostrils, I just went for it! All the way to the edge of the forest, over the level crossing, down the path to the entrance to the stadium and I was done! 7'30", pretty darned good for me.
Mr OBK wanted to do a full 5 km so carried on round the stadium track. I cut the corner and met up with him again, just gently jogging as I wanted to get home and it's a bit quicker than walking. Back on the street he carried on running then turned off the road again so he could cover a bit more. Fine, until I realised he had the key and there was nobody to answer the door. Saw him off in the distance and yelled his name. All those elocution lessons and hints about voice projection must have taught me something, he must have been at least a couple of hundred metres away but he heard me and ran back. I quite impressed myself 
Amazing what you can do when you put your mind to it (and want your breakfast!!)
week3run1 ✅. 3 x 17 mins with 1 min walks. 
How did your parkrun or (not)parkrun go?
week 2 begins! 
