Friday 13 December 1.15pm. Dull, overcast, damp and chilly. 6°C
It's been a long while since I've written up a run. I've not really had much of a regular routine in the last few months. Storm Darragh dashed any plans I had of running last weekend.
I was in Aberdaron last weekend. We didn't step outside at all on Saturday or Sunday as the gusts didn't dip below 70mph (with a peak of 94mph). It wasn't safe. Also the electricity went off several times. (Saturday night to Sunday lunchtime, Sunday night to Monday mid-morning, Wednesday daytime, and I'm told about 3am-10am today too.)
Yesterday I got out at lunchtime and did my usual 2 mile circuit, finishing with a slightly uphill 200m sprint between two bus stops. I felt fine after that.
Today I've been off work, using up holiday days I couldn't use earlier in the year. A rare lie in, and I'm up feeling like I'd like a run. It's bitter out, but I have clothes for that.
A running beanie (last year's Xmas prezzie), two long sleeved layers on my body (a clingy one as base layer and a looser thicker fleecy layer on the outside), running undies, black running tights with a bit of compression, gloves and thick socks. I knew that if I felt a bit of a chill when I initially got out of the house I'd be fine once I got warmed up.
A last minute visit to "the facilities" and, after a quick check on Herself who has been up most of the night with something that sounds a bit like norovirus, I step outside. It's chilly but there's no wind.
I did a few deep squats whilst waiting for watch and phone to get GPS lock. An older girl was walking a younger boy down the hill. I stepped back from the gateway to let them past.
Off we go! I always do a five minute warm up walk, a habit I've kept from doing Couch to 5K.
Up the hill. About half way up there's a young lady walking in the other direction, obviously with things on her mind, who almost walks into a bramble branch hanging across the pavement.
The watch beeps to tell me the five minutes is up. I break into a jog. No heroics today.
There's always a bit more hill to climb up to the post office. Then there's the long straight bit to the motorway roundabout. I have to run a few circles waiting for the lights to change at the four crossings. At the final one I wave to a lorry driver who waves back, and swap greetings with a guy in a mobility scooter crossing the other way.
Past the fire station. Past the Café of Convenience which looks as if it may have closed permanently. Swap greetings with a postman. On and down over the level crossing (heritage line) and onto the "rubbish dump" estate. I notice a pair of personalised number plates identical except for consecutive year numbers.
Into the dip and up onto the clay path. There's evidence that it's been cleared after storm damage. I see a few dog walkers coming the other way. My pace has slowed a little as this path is almost all uphill. Past the rugby ground, the entrance to the golf club and the allotments with a pile of horse manure outside. Into a residential area again.
Ahead is a man in a red fleece carrying a small package. When he gets to a door I can see he's a postman, with a very faded Royal Mail logo on the fleece. He doesn't respond to my "Good afternoon".
Up a slope to the main road, across that. I must have been making a racket with my harder soled trail running shoes as a guy turned round and stepped out of the way as I ran past on the pavement.
Onto the canal towpath. Canada geese are lined up on the opposite side of the lock. My podcast stops and I wait until I've climbed up to the top of a bridge over the canal where I take a couple of photos (one is above) and fix the podcast player on my phone. A lady walks past with a young dog which wants to say hello. I offer the back of my gloved hand for sniffing and then scratch behind it the ears.
I continue on along the towpath. Much further on I meet a guy with his bike lying on the grass, putting on some gloves. We swap "afternoon"s and he says he'll be coming up from behind me in a moment. I keep an ear out for him and move onto the grass as he approaches. This is followed by a "Thanks"/"You're welcome" exchange.
I leave the canal at the next lock, then back onto the pavements. Up over the hump-backed railway bridge, then it's mostly downhill for the final mile. The high school has the wig-wag crossing lights turned on and the yellow-suited lollipop man is chatting with someone in a car. We swap greetings.
A bit further (and negotiating a couple of tricky junctions with queueing traffic) it was over.
I was slow by my standards. I don't care. I enjoyed the run.
Stats
Total time: 83'17" (69'47" for the run)
Total distance: 11.17km (10.00km for the run)
Splits: 6'46", 6'39", 6'42", 6'44", 7'05", 7'07", 7'13", 7'09", 7'14", 7'07"
This is one of the slower times I've done this route in. (My PB for this is 52'37".)
And the interesting thing is that this was all in the lower heart rate zones (Z1: 30'34", Z2: 37'33", Z3: 0'50").
I felt great afterwards too. You don't need to chase the speeds to feel good about a run.
Parkrun tomorrow!
A (10K) Trail of two countries
On the bridge to madness - out of step - week 1
60 minutes past Gorilla!
Why does a new route feel more exhausting?
