God, that was a hard one, I’m so sweaty.
Thank you, thank you, I’m here all week. You’ve been a tolerant audience.
So how did we get here? I go all quiet after Week 5 and suddenly here we are kicking off Week 7. Well I did run Week 6 and I don’t want to brag but I smashed it and it was awesome.
I mean, I think that’s what happened, I don’t remember the actual runs themselves, I just know I did them and felt good after. Unfortunately I never found the time to write about those three runs afterwards so I’ve saved you from having to read them. You’re welcome.
So I’m all caught up with my previous attempt last year, which I believe ended with a tragic attempt at W5R2 that I barely made it through. This year I have bounced back, had a much better time with it and now here I am running non-stop for 25 minutes.
I say running, because that’s what it technically is. I’m using the running muscles but it’s more of a slow motion wheeze. At least I know it’s quicker than walking because I keep passing people so that’s something. But when I have no I else to compare it with it feels painfully slow. Guess I’m good at pacing.
So today’s run was a difficult one and I’m not at all surprised by that. While I did the same thing at the end of Week 6, I had a much better time with that one because I’d been building up to it. Unfortunately that was all the way back on Saturday and I didn’t get the chance to run again until today, which is a much bigger gap than I’d like between runs. I haven’t been especially active since then so no was not fully prepared for another big run.
But, of course, when there’s a chance to run, I take it. That chance happened today, it helped a lot that I’d earned some points the other day for cancelling a run to watch the baby for a few hours so my partner could have a much needed nap after several sleepless nights in a row. Last night we all slept reasonably ok and when I got home there was a running window available so I smashed through it instead of opening it sensibly. I’m not sure where this metaphor is going.
Anyway I headed out into the unusual February weather (it is weird, isn’t it? It’s not just me thinking climate change, is it?). It was warm, it was cool, it had rained today, then been sunny. My run ended up being in the between weather as the day tried to decide what to do with itself.
Today’s music of choice was The Ramones, who are awesome, but I went with The Best of the Chrysalis Years, which is apparently not as awesome as their best work but personally I think it’s still awesome anyway. Maybe it’s a nostalgia thing because it’s the first thing I heard by them when I was a fresher all the way back in 2004 that made me fall in love with them. Maybe it’s because Pet Semetary is a genuinely great song. It is!
So I put that on, did the warm up walk and I was off. First obstacle: almost immediately I had to run through a group of kids playing on the path. They were nice enough not to get in the way, although when one of them went down into the stream to get his ball I thought I better keep an eye on him just in case but he was out and back on the path before I got round the corner. Sure, I care but I can’t stop my run!
My legs started to get a bit tired pretty early on though an I wasn’t surprised and at this point I knew I had more in me so it wasn’t a huge concern. Yet.
Now one of the good things about the Ramones is that they play fast so you can get through a lot of songs in a short time. However, this is not so great for running when I need to be distracted because I’ll power through two or three songs, feel like I’ve been running for ages and then realise that, ugh, I really haven’t. Still it’s fun and energetic so the pros outweighs the cons.
But I got tired really quickly on this run and it’s definitely been the hardest one yet. That doesn’t mean it went badly at all but it was a real struggle getting to the end of it. There was even a point where I genuinely thought I’d need to give up, or at least walk for a bit, which in my book is a fail because it’s meant to be a solid running block.
Luckily I am stubborn and I stuck with it. Stupid stubborn me, I have a love-hate relationship with him. The lowest point was when I thought I must be nearly finished by now, only for Jo Whiley to cheerfully remind me that there was only 5 minutes left. Thanks Jo! At that point I really didn’t think I’d make it but I had to try and I knew I could do it because I’d already done it. I’m glad I listened to the nagging voice in my head, as well as the encouraging voice in my ear.
The last 5 minutes were actually not so bad. I didn’t have a second wind or anything, I certainly didn’t speed up at all, but I squeezed out every last ounce of fuel I had in me (wait, that sounds like I had an accident, I’m just being all metaphorical again), kept a steady pace, breathed (really helped me to not die) and just did it.
And then it started to rain and it was just what I needed for the cool down walk. I put my hood up, wondered what the hell i was doing, put it down again and enjoyed the walk. Then I went straight home and ate a piece of cake and that’s why I’m still out of shape!
So it’s been a tough but rewarding run, I guess I’m looking forward to doing it again but I definitely need the rest day before that. Hopefully I can stick to the structure again and get that run in on Saturday but we’ll see...
W7 r2 - that’s better!
And that’s week 8 complete
Speed up she said...you must be kidding I said!
W7R1 and a sore Achilles.
W7R1
