Road runner

[Yesletsgo]

After the very hilly run on Saturday my husband put his mind to working out a flatter route. This involved descending the steep hill from where we're staying then going along a more level route with another downhill incline at the end and then onto the main road around the island. I was a bit nervous as there's no pavement but there isn't much traffic either.

It was a bright morning but an icy wind blew in from the sea. I wished I'd brought a jumper but put the thought aside, after all how cold could it be, I'm in Greece? 😂

The plan worked beautifully, the road gently rising and falling leading us to the next village. We were able to get off the road and run across the hard sand on the beach for a little while, then back the way we came. It was warmer now, or maybe we were warmer, and conditions felt perfect.

Around the 4th km my legs started to feel heavy. Husband said that all the cake I'd eaten yesterday had worked its way to my ankles. Fighting talk, I sped up and the feeling disappeared when I overtook him.

A downhill stretch allowed me to catch my breath then it was on to the last stretch uphill towards where we started running. I decided to try leaning forward and running on my forefeet. I surprised myself, it was the quickest section of the run, though by the time it started to level out I was definitely feeling the effort and had to slow right down. As we reached the final steep road home NRC told me I'd completed 5km. Enough for one day, time to walk, and a definite feeling of achievement for someone who hates hills.

When I checked my stats against Saturday's run , today's elevation gain was 47m against Saturday's 44m. On Saturday we barely managed 3 km, and the pace was 9'04" as opposed to 8'10" today. I'm not quite sure what this tells me but I know which I found easier.

Attached is a pic of an ancient olive tree we saw yesterday on our long walk.

[damienair Administrator]

Well done and great improvement. Sometimes a new route can make it easier. A lot of this running is fighting off the gremlins in our heads. Enjoy and that Olive tree is incredible.

[Cmoi Graduate10]

Another gorgeous photo Yesletsgo , thank you.

As for the elevation, it's not surprising that your pace today was faster. If my calculations are correct, on Saturday the average (= mean) gradient for the whole route including uphills, downhills and flat sections was roughly 1.47%, whereas today it was 0.94%.

The numbers might look small but that's a significant difference when you're running, especially when you're not used to any hills.

[Yesletsgo Administrator Graduate10 in reply to Cmoi]

Thanks, that makes sense

[Cmoi Graduate10 in reply to Yesletsgo]

To give you a better idea, an experienced ultra and marathon runner I met during the trail marathon said that he considered a run do-able if the whole run average gradient was under 5%. Above that he said he'd have to think about whether he was capable of it. I believe the Ultra Trail du Mont Blanc comes in around 5.9%. Wibble.

[Yesletsgo Administrator Graduate10 in reply to Cmoi]

😱