W8R2: Canal Turn

[nowster]

Time: 7.45am Weather: 17°C, Overcast, Very damp.

Still hard, but I picked up speed at the end?

It had hammered it down with rain overnight. My sleep had been disturbed by getting too hot in bed overnight. Humidity was high again.

The loo gremlin whispered to me again, so multiple visits before going out.

This morning's route was half my standard route and then switching to the canal when I reached it. I was glad I was doing it this way round: all the canal locks were "down" in this direction. There were some cobbles round the locks which made it hard to keep a consistent pace.

A view of ducks and geese, and horses on the far bank. A nice change from my usual roads.

The biggest problem with the canal towpath was other people. A couple of cyclists approached at a point where the path was narrow and I needed to jog on the spot for them to pass.

After the canal was a downhill section on roads. I was starting to tire at that point, and had slowed down. A short gently uphill stretch at the end and unexpectedly I appear to have sped up a bit during the last minute.

Closing the loop involved an uphill walk, thankfully much shorter than Saturday's, past the town's parish church. They've recently restarted the church clock (it needs winding by hand once a week), but it's currently about five minutes fast.

Stats:

Distance: 4.32km running, 6.09km in total

Pace (running): 6'29"/km. Splits (by km): 6'11", 6'58", 6'20", 6'30", 6'15"/km

Top speed: 10.9km/h, 5'32"/km (sprinting across a junction when the lights had just changed)

~~~

Today I was again listening to RTÉ Lyric FM:

07:43 Shostakovitch - Spanish Dance

07:47 Billy J Kramer - Trains And Boats And Planes

07:52 Vangelis - Chariots Of Fire: Main Titles (In honour of Ben Cross who died today)

07:56 Bizet - Avec La Garde Montante (Children's Chorus)

08:01 Richard Hawley - I Still Want You (Album Version)

08:05 Royal Danish Brass - Amazing Grace

08:11 Cream - I Feel Free

08:17 Andy Williams - Home Lovin' Man

08:26 Alma Cogan - I Can't Tell A Waltz From A Tango

[nowster Graduate]

PS. Observations I forgot to include in the original post.

• The fumes of the vinegar factory at the edge of town wafted over at one point.

• Smartphone fingerprint sensors don't work when you're sweaty.

[a_in_gsr Graduate]

nice!! so soon onto the final week!

[nowster Graduate in reply to a_in_gsr]

Not quite. One more to do for Week 8.

Four runs left. If the stars align, my graduation run will be on Thursday 27th.

[a_in_gsr Graduate in reply to nowster]

ahh but still so close! I already feel like I'm nearly there with still 5 runs left

[anthony_jeannot Graduate]

Love that you get a nice view of the canals and some farmyard friends on the run.

I hate running on cobbles, I feel like the inconsistent landings and extra work done by the legs to balance really makes you feel every little ache.

[nowster Graduate in reply to anthony_jeannot]

These weren't rounded cobbles, but rather flatter thin rectangles. A bit like thin setts.