Having learned since the last run (sign of intelligence, that), I left the house in far less clothing than seems appropriate for this time of year. The wind whipped right through my silky lycra leggings. I didn’t realise until I got them home that some designer had thought it would be good idea to create what I can only describe as a fishnet window down the side of the leg. Victorian men would have fainted away at the sight.
I put on a guided session ‘Just Go with Mo’ and enjoyed it. It felt a little like they were reading a script rather than talking naturally, but I learned a bit about Mo Farah and when there was a suggestion I might like to increase the pace, I did, just a little... perhaps the most useful thing about these guided recovery runs for me is they really emphasise the need to go slowly at the beginning of the run, remind you how long it takes for your body to warm up. I didn’t put on any music today and enjoyed the few minutes of silence in between the chat.
It was blowing a hooley out there today and I kept switching from a road to a field, which meant not only a change in terrain, but a change in wind direction. I’m also still coughing up some muck so all in all I found it tricky to get a smooth rhythm and didn’t feel as comfortable with my breathing today as during some runs, but it wasn’t at all bad.
For much of the last 1k I had the wind behind me on a gentle incline, and wow, it was good! I leaned forward and felt like I was flying without effort. Then I did a 180 and although I knew it was coming, felt the shock of running directly into the bluster. That scuppered any ideas I may have had about a faster finish, but at least I finished in a tidy fashion, with a little more in the tank - unlike last time when I slumped over a fence feeling ill.
I tried out the ‘run’ function on the Fitbit Charge 2 for the first time. I have just let it automatically detect runs before, but by using it, it does pretty much what the Nike Run Club app does in terms of stats. I was quite impressed to see the stats for NRC and Fitbit were virtually identical until I realised they both use my phone as the GPS, so the fact they are virtually-but-not-quite-identical becomes rather strange. I had thought I might be able to see what pace I was going/what my heart rate was doing on the Fitbit whilst running, but really, it’s just a faff when there are squirrels and leaves blowing and potholes to look at. But I did ‘capture’ a lasso...
So that’s it! No dramas, just a good run, for which I am very grateful.
W9 R2 - Only one left to go!!
Penultimate run of Couch to 5k
W9 R3 Part 2 - graduation run in the face of Storm Barbara (actually week 21 but who cares?) 
Update - week one, run 2
R2 W9... Just one run to go!!!
