Today I find my self working away from home in the delightful west country city of Hereford.
As always, the running gear is in the bag and on the way to Hereford, I treat myself to a beanie hat with a head torch built into it, which would prove to be a brilliant buy.
At 5.30pm I arrive at my B+B (Brandon Lodge on the A49 - FANTASTIC) and it is dark. I speak to my host as I know she is a keen runner herself, to get a route which would keep me off the roads. Armed with some info, I get changed into my fluorescent yellow top, pull on my new beanie hat with torch and off I go for what I presume will be my normal 30 minute session.
I'll be honest, I wasn't sure how tonight was going to work out, I'd had a week off from running after being laid up with a bad cold (man-flu), but 15 minutes in, the legs felt like I never been away and the breathing also good.
Anyway, we are now 20 minutes into this unfamiliar route, a cycle path that cuts through the city, and I should be turning round to head back. But I feel good, so instead, I keep going.
Eventually, I run out of cycle path and I now have to turn around and make my way back. I get back to my starting point and push the button on my watch to stop the timer. To my surprise, I had just ran for 1 hour and 1 minute. I have never ran for that long! I kinda thought I had it in me but had never pushed myself to do it.
But, that was not the only surprise. As the title suggests, the best surprise was still to come.
Once back in my room, I plot my route into my route planner . . . . . 10.28k
Without planning it, without thinking about it, I'd just completed my first 10k run in 1h 01min. Cue big (massive actually) grin.
Seven months ago 5k was a pipe dream - 10k was what nightmares were made of. Today, 10k became a reality. C25K made it happen
Keep at it, you have so much to gain and celebrate and celebrations to come.
Week 6 Run 2 - Surprised myself again ! :-)
Week 2 completed, surprised myself ☺️
This running lark never stops surprising you...
Parklife surprise
