W6R3: I'm a (slower) runner

[nowster]

Time: 7.10am Weather: 18°C, sunny.

No going back now!

The morning was clear and sunny with a pleasant slight chill to the air.

I reached the usual point at the end of the warm-up run and pressed the button on the watch. Here goes for 25 mins!

I deliberately held back on the pace, which is reflected in the stats below, and I'm glad I did.

My calf muscles felt tighter than usual, but didn't give me any problems. I know I've been drinking enough: nearly 3 litres yesterday. Thankfully the stitch gremlin didn't visit me today.

Jo Wiley was less chatty than usual, speaking only during the run at the 5 min, mid-point, 20 min, and 24 min points. I did try to pick up the pace as she suggested sprinting during the last minute, but I couldn't sustain it and fell back to the jog.

That pleasant chill when I started running seemed to have disappeared by the end of the run.

Returned home feeling like a sweaty tomato, had a glass of water, did the stretches, had another glass of water, had cool shower, then a big mug of coffee and writing up here.

Stats:

Distance: 4.8km total; 3.70km running.

Pace (running): 6'47"/km overall. Splits by km: 6'53", 7'07", 6'31", 6'33".

~~~

Today's random jukebox selection:

07:04 Focus - Hocus Pocus

07:10 Electric Light Orchestra - Rock 'N' Roll Is King

07:13 Marty Wilde - Endless Sleep

07:16 The Osmonds - I Can't Live A Dream

07:18 Tennessee Ernie Ford - Shotgun Boogie

07:21 Cat Stevens - Wild World

07:24 Slim Whitman - Sweeter Than The Flowers

07:27 Whitney Houston - One Moment In Time

07:32 Ron Moody - You've Got To Pick A Pocket Or Two (The tempo matched my cadence nicely)

07:35 Mike Berry - Tribute to Buddy Holly

07:38 Napoleon XIV - They're Coming to Get Me Again, Ha-haaa!

07:40 Gerry and the Pacemakers - Girl On A Swing

07:42 Paul Simon - Kodachrome

[MontyMooDog Graduate]

Great running and a great write up. You've got this wrapped up lol 👍🏃😂

[acountrycabbage Graduate]

Well done on your run today!

I *love* that you added your playlist (clear why you selected Jo as your trainer!) It will give me some ideas. My interesting track of the week was YMCA. (Yep..!) Worked like an absolute charm, was waving my arms around in the air!

Can I ask what tracker you use? Looks good. I’ve got to say I’m not enjoying the recommended Strava. I find it unnecessarily complicated and am getting annoyed by being constantly asked to upgrade.

[nowster Graduate in reply to acountrycabbage]

I'm using FitoTrack (Android only). At the moment it doesn't have any filtering on the GPS tracking so outliers are recorded as true values. As it's open source I can see that that's being worked on.

I'm also using the Garmin watch I got last week for the more accurate pace and speed figures, and that's what's uploading to Strava in parallel to share with friends.

[BexJogs Graduate]

Nice! Glad you found a steadier pace especially in this heat. I’m about to write up my W7R1. Really enjoying this and especially look forward to seeing your posts. I’m almost tempted to wait a few days so you’re ahead of me and I can benefit from your stats/tips, haha!

[nowster Graduate in reply to BexJogs]

Sneaky! 😁

Not sure what next week will bring, with thunderstorms forecast. On the other hand summer thunderstorms tend to be an afternoon/evening thing, and I'm now firmly in the rhythm of morning runs.

[BexJogs Graduate in reply to nowster]

Me too! Finally realised I actually could run before breakfast (I firmly believed I could not!). Makes it so much better to just get up and go. Although running in a thunderstorm sounds kind of exciting!

[nowster Graduate in reply to BexJogs]

Not if you're the tallest thing around.

0/5 Would not recommend. 😉🌩

[JoHealth Graduate]

Brilliant well done!!👌 What a great achievement!! I’m on week 6 on Monday. Phew.. it’s getting harder.. I have Jo Wiley too.. I feel like a bit more encouragement from her a little more often wouldn’t go a miss..

But hey your doing fantastic!🤩

[nowster Graduate in reply to JoHealth]

Don't forget, every run prepares you for the next.

I might vary my route next week, given that it's all continuous running from now on. There's a slightly flatter route I could alternate with my current one, but it does involve a steep hill for the warm-up walk.

[JoHealth Graduate in reply to nowster]

Yes that’s probably a good idea looking at a route change. I will need to work out something for myself. I can’t believe I ran for 20 mins non stop.. never thought I would be able to get that far.. it tired me out just running for 3 minutes at the start of this 😂🏃‍♀️

[JoHealth Graduate]

Can you tell me where did you get the chart from showing your run ?

[nowster Graduate in reply to JoHealth]

Screenshots of the app Fitotrack (Android only), stitched together in the GIMP editor.

[JoHealth Graduate in reply to nowster]

Ah ok, I have an iphone so I won’t be getting that then 😁 Thank you.