The title comes from: runnersworld.com/training/a...
Monday 16 September 4.55pm. Sunny, warm, calm. 20°C
I did parkrun on Saturday. It wasn't fast, but it was consistent with the previous few parkruns I'd done.
I'd also made the mistake of weighing myself last week. I'm almost back to the weight I was before I started running. That's not good. I'd had a clue that something was off when I was struggling to get into my jeans for the first time in ages. (I've been wearing shorts since it got warm.)
That's me off snacks and back into doing longer runs. I've not been doing any runs much over half an hour for what seems like ages. (And I had that two month break without any running.)
It's been a really nice day. I decide to kit up in the evening: thin tee shirt and shorts.
I go on my normal 10km route which includes a section of the Rochdale Canal (photo looking back along the route).
But first I have to start. Five minute warm up, up the steep hill, then start jogging slowly.
I deliberately start at the sort of pace that I'd normally be doing when I'd be flagging at the end of a really long run. Pace isn't important today. Distance and time on feet is. My longest run since June had been just over 5km, so this is a big bump up in distance and I don't want to tempt injury.
Up past the post office. Along the long straight to the motorway roundabout. The lights are against me at every stage and there's a lot of traffic with it being rush hour, so I do a lot of jogging in circles whilst waiting for the green man.
Passing the fire station I see another runner ahead, doing approximately the same pace. I know that if I "put my foot down" I could catch him up, but I'm content to keep about the same distance between us until he turns off a side road.
Down across the railway level crossing and into the housing estate. Into the dip where they've repaired the anti-bike chicane, then up out onto the clay path. There are a few people out including a couple running with a dog nipping round their heels.
There's a bit of a climb off the path up past the allotments next to the rugby ground. I'm tempted to pause at the top but get my second wind and keep going. Crossing the main road to get to the canal isn't easy as the traffic island that used to be there was removed when the road was remodelled (to put in bike lanes that the locals moaning in the local press consider pointless).
Onto the canal. A pair walk along with fishing rods. (You can just about see them in the photo above.) At one of the canal bridges you can see where the railway track crosses the motorway, so I paused for a couple of minutes and took a photo of the works to replace the rail bridge across the M62.
Then onto the towpath again, through the tunnel under the motorway, and out the other side. A bike bell tinged repeatedly behind me and I moved over to make room for the lady on the bike to get past. I called out a "Good evening" and got a thumbs-up in response.
Last (and longest) bit of towpath and I'm aware of another runner behind me. I must have increased my pace very slightly as after a few minutes I lost track of them and couldn't see anyone behind me. There were plenty of people out walking, feeding the geese, or berry picking.
Off the canal and onto the pavements again. Once I got over the hump backed bridge over the (temporarily closed) railway it was mostly all downhill: my "home straight". I decide to increase the pace very slightly, then when my watch indicated that there was exactly 1km left to run, I increased it to my usual running pace.
And then it was all over. I walked back, but near the end did a short faster run between two bus stops (as has been a habit of the last year or so).
Stats:
Duration: 83'19" total (69'26" running + 60 " sprint)
Distance: 11.26 km (10.00 km running + 200m sprint)
Splits: 7'08", 7'14", 6'40", 6'44", 7'08", 7'09", 7'39", 7'11", 6'46", 5'47", plus 200m @ 4'55"/km
Average running pace: 6'57"/km
Wow! I got through it! And I felt good enough to be able to speed up at the end.
The time is of no concern, though at my peak two years ago I did this exact route's 10km distance in under 53 minutes.
I need to do more runs like this, possibly even longer. I really enjoy doing no-pressure longer runs.
Today I rested, doing a little gardening after work, then a choir rehearsal. I'd like to get another run in tomorrow. It'll probably not be as long as this one, though.
The other way
Beautiful sunflowers! 🌻🌻🌻
Need help with cadence / pace etc.
