Feeling snail-ish
Floss Ramble Warning.
Hi running friends.
I have been trying to write this post up for days. But time and tide, and all that... one in short supply and the other, threatening to wash over me!
But... here I am. Fresh and refreshed, with Week 2 Run 2 of NRC 10K plan done, albeit being tweaked like mad, to facilitate the essential duties of the days, which seem to be whizzing by..
I have been running. Hard to believe, but yes, and I am having a great deal of fun and finding joy in each of the runs I am doing.
I should stop writing now, because that says it all...
...but I won't.
As my English mistress used to tell me often, I was just the kind of girl who would use one hundred words, when in reality, ten would do. That, she would say, is what made me a good wordsmith! So that's good enough for me and on I go!
I have done some recovery runs, had rest days, ( Ha ha), Speed run and Long run. Wednesday, should have been a speed day, but my photograph tells its own story ! Some frenetic and trying days have taken a wee bit of a toll and that is where the three 'A's come in, yet again !
Acknowledge, Accept and Adapt!
I am using this mantra so much lately and it really helps. Taking a step back, easing off, breathing gently and then moving on.
CB and I have been having a ball. He of course, is overly fond of me and my little quirks, he does not mind if I change my route, or wait for the rain to stop and have to change the planned run from a speed run to another recovery run...he understands, but does, on occasions, get his own back.
I have not done speed runs for quite a few years... bursts of speed yes, always something left in the tank, but not a speed run, The last I did, I think, was during a speed challenge on the Fun Beyond forum ( then Half Marathon and Marathon), where I had a lot of fun increasing my speed over 5 weeks... I hasten to add, that was only for 1K distance,
healthunlocked.com/marathon...
Only going to prove that I can move when I need to... not far, not fast but I can 
Now the speed run I ran last week, was different, and I loved it; talk about NOT feeling my age, that is, apart from when, CB, alias Mr Sneaky, who after the intervals were over, and I thought I was done... added another 30 seconds on. Cheeky or what !
I am so looking forward, though, to the next one !
I had chosen my route fairly carefully and it proved to be a good choice...with a bit of downhill and a bit of flat... which I am not good at running on, and a finish, up hill, which I am...
I had a lovely run across my fields next, but on this occasion, Mr CB., clearly fed up of listening to the sound of my feet hitting the dry, hard baked ground, bailed out on me until the very end of the run! It was not personal, a few folk here had glitches too! And there were lots of bunnies, so I was not alone
Monday's run this week... YES, shaking it up still, this Monday run, was different and I had a wonderful end of run, entertaining the troops ( sorry, folk stuck in their cars), at the railway station... barriers down and two trains playing, how-slow-can-you-go?
I ran up and down and around the garden centre yard too... I think I was probably the only one having fun,,, epitomised by another runner who, when we did eventually, get over the crossing, shouted, “Go girl”, as he ran past! Girl ? I'll take that
Yesterday... hmm.. a speed run was planned, but...a really heavy day Monday, and a tiring one Tuesday, with some BIG decisions being mooted, meant listening to the body and the mind very carefully. The rain first thing helped too.
I needed to, Acknowledge that I was physically and mentally tired, Accept the reasons for that, Adapt the run accordingly, which I did and I enjoyed it ! Our good friend Annieapple is with me, I know, on the concept of the three As, so I took her with me again today .. she had fun too
Out into the fresh air, morning routine complete and a short run planned , intending to avoid the small humans heading for the school. So up the hill, where else... I love hills and I am not ashamed of saying it!
Off I went, not raining, but a fresh- dampness ,covering the trees, the hedgerows and the overgrown pathway. Legs, clad in Capri leggings this morning, ( I am really shaking it up) , getting cold-tingles when my legs brush the cow-parsley , the long grasses and the flowers, as I run upwards. Looking up and around, the trees towering, raindrops literally, falling on my head, as the trees shake themselves dry... up to the half way point and a bit beyond.
CB is on my wave length this morning, saying all the right things, at all the right times... I may not have felt, as he suggested, sluggish, but I did feel as my photo demonstrates, snail-ish!
But, as the run progresses, so do we, and very soon, I know, absolutely, I am a better runner, I am an awesome runner, I am the runner I have become...(CB's words, not mine).
I am filled with the joy of being Able to run, to Absorb every single sensation of that run and Appreciate the beauty of the world around me.
WOW ! Three more As, Yeay!
One or two of the older students heading to the village as I turn and run back down the hill, acknowledging CB's suggestion that I put my foot down and give it a little extra effort, It was fun and I finished before reaching the roundabout!
Home again and ready to take it all on; I resist the urge to have Sunday breakfast of pancakes, bananas and honey. on a Wednesday... but make up for it, by eating too much cereal followed by toast, followed by a banana !
Three different runs, and three different, run feelings...but, all, good, all positive and all very happy runs.
I am happy that I ran yesterday, as the rain is returned, yet again...that does though, as CBDB pointed out in her rainy day post, mean one less task, as the garden and my veggie plots are getting watered, without my help.
Okay...another busy day ahead, but the buzz is still buzzing... !
Floss ramble over... time to wake up !
Happy running everyone
Oldfloss x
week3run1 ✅. 3 x 17 mins with 1 min walks. 
How did your parkrun or (not)parkrun go?
