What a beautiful morning!

[Yesletsgo]

I was woken at 7 by a skip lorry delivering to our next door neighbour. Despite this it took me over 2 hours to get ready and leave the house. I blame Mr Y, I was waiting for him to get up and make coffee 😂

By the time we left it was already quite warm so it was always going to be a shorter run. As we approached the path I was inspired by a recent post about favourite NRC runs to do my personal favourite, Triple 7s. Haven't run it for a while and it was just the prompt I needed to get myself into a slightly higher gear than normal.

The run involves a 5 minute warm up then 3 7 minute runs at 5k pace with a 2.5 minute recovery between. Coach Sally is in charge, she has a great presence.

The first interval was all about getting into the groove if you like. Took it really easy in the recovery and then was off for the second interval. Towards the end of this I passed a load of blackberries but carried on, running first one direction then back again so that I finished by the bush to help myself during the second recovery.

The bush is near the 'pointless obstacle' steps I mentioned yesterday. My plan had been to get the berries then walk slowly up the steps to be ready for the final interval. I must have spent longer foraging than I anticipated as the run started practically the minute I was on the upper sea wall. A lovely surprise awaited me, the tide was in. The water even looked blue, doesn't happen very often with the North Sea.

I completed the run then walked the rest of the way, stopping to admire a Thames Barge moored by the local yacht club.

When I got home I looked at my stats. NRC told me I'd done the second interval at a pace of 5'02"/km. I was very impressed with myself until I saw that the app also told me my maximum pace was 6'43" which I hit for a fleeting instant. If you ever watched The Fast Show you'll remember a character who would say, 'Y'know that (insert topic), it's all ........' I was reminded of that when I looked at my numbers.

Anyway, it brightened up a day that was already pretty good. Sometimes it all comes together

[damienair Administrator]

Very well done on your run this morning. Lovely photo. I have to go for a run this evening. I'm going to do an Interval Session. I must admit to always having a little bit of dread beforehand. But that is only because it gets very uncomfortable. But afterwards you never regret it.

[Yesletsgo Administrator Graduate10 in reply to damienair]

Thank you,

Intervals can be a bit daunting. You sort of know they often start easy but the last 5 minutes....

As you say, definitely worth it once they're done

[Oldfloss Administrator Graduate10]

An interesting...but very successful run for you and the most glorious photograph too ! I reallly enjoy the interval runs...

[Yesletsgo Administrator Graduate10 in reply to Oldfloss]

Thanks, for once I took the photo myself. It's very photogenic round here, especially when the sun is out.

On the right day an interval run can be the best fun ever. One day I'm going to attempt the 30s run (30 seconds running, 30 recovery lots and lots of times). It more or less defeated me when I did it before so come the cold weather I'll gird my loins and try again

[MissUnderstanding Administrator Graduate10]

That sky 😍😍😍

Triple 7s is a really hard run! I’m super impressed it’s a favourite. The long intervals don’t really suit me-my favourites are all short ones…pretty much the opposite of triple 7s!! Sounds like you absolutely nailed it. It’s nice when the tech credits you with being quicker than expected rather than the other way (that’s what my NRC app does). You’ve been super consistent for a good while now so I bet your pace is faster, even if the app is a bit confused!

[Yesletsgo Administrator Graduate10 in reply to MissUnderstanding]

It's interesting that we find different things difficult. I'm not a fan of short intervals unless there's a really good coach in my ear. The longer intervals give me time to get into a rhythm and think instead of just fixating on the next stop or start.

At one point I was doing Triple 7s more or less as a default run - I wanted to do intervals and my husband didn't so it was a compromise, I didn't have to keep yelling '30 seconds to go!!' at him. Nowadays he just runs his run while I run mine and we meet back at the house.

I've really enjoyed my runs since I've been home, it's great having a routine. I've run further this month than any other for quite a while. I suppose it'll all go out of the window once I'm back on the boat next month but hey ho, can't complain.