Today I planned to do my NRC long run for the week.
This was an 8 Mile run (12.875K)
I took some fluids and a few jelly babies just in case 😁
It was a 10 minute drive to where I would start and as it was already 10 degrees I was wearing running vest and shorts .
I actually wore my hydration vest also as it was handy to carry a few bits and bobs like drink, jelly babies , car and house keys and a few tissues but I didn't use the bladder, just a flexible 0.250ml bottle of water .
Things didn't start too well !
I did my Dynamics and went to put a tissue in my shorts pocket only to realise they were on back to front 🤣
Great start !
Shorts turned around and out of the door for the short drive !
I arrived in the lay-by and parked up and started my warm up walk , so far so good 😁
After 5 minutes I went to start the NRC app only to realise I had forgotten my ear buds !!! Curse 🤬🤬🤬
Ahh well, we will have a Naked 8 miles then 🤣
I started the watch and set off at a slow pace , I thought I could turn the phone volume up when I was on a quiet area with no-one else around , hence the semi naked 😁
This worked well but a little frustrating at times !
I had purposely set off a little slower than my 10K of last week as I knew this run would be all about the pace !
It felt good and I kept a fairly steady pace to 5k and beyond and was feeling good and surprisingly strong and perfectly dressed for the weather of about 12 to 13 degrees as it was now , light cloud and a gentle breeze, perfect !
Around 6 or 7k the pace had crept up slightly and that's fine , there was still no doubt of finishing this run .
At about 8k I had a couple jelly babies, a little tricky getting them out of the pocket and zip top sandwich bag while continuing to run !
I met 2 or 3 other runners around this time , all going the opposite way to me , we greeted each other and smiled as we passed .
At this stage of the run I needed to cross the busy Oswestry bypass at a roundabout , it wasen't too busy so was only stopped for around 4 or 5 seconds.
Bypass safely negotiated and on to new running territory for me (on last week's 10k I went a different way at this roundabout)
Anothe runner passed and onto a long incline for a few minutes, I tried to maintain my pace which had now picked up from my starting pace .
On to10K and my last 2 jelly babies eaten and a few sips of water whilst still running (yes, I did get a bit wet😁)
Back across the Oswestry bypass at a different roundabout and into the final area of Park Hall which is a couple of k run or so from my car .
I could sence the finish line now and my pace was a little higher , that's fine as I was now on the home straight!
Park hall done , and I pass my car in the lay-by at about 12.5K.
I carry on a bit further to get the 12.875k (aka) 8 Miles .
The NRC app got there slightly ahead of Garmin so I stopped the app and carried on to a Garmin of 12 .87k.
Job done , walk back to the car (not quite 5 mins but enough to let the legs recover)
Drive home for stretches and then porridge and a mug of tea !
This was a really good run !
I was tired at the end but certainly not wiped out and very happy with the splits and controlled pace over 8 miles .
And surprisingly, Vo2 Max remained the same ! (I expected it to drop)
I certainly think that running more frequently again and strength training are both paying off 😁
Happy running !
