I ran W9R2 just after sunrise this morning, sure a variant of the undulating coastal route I used for W9R1 would be engaging, challenging and that the change would exercise me well without being too much.
My pre-run brisk walk ended. There had been rain overnight prior to my run so it was still wet underfoot…care needed…I wanted to be sure not to blow my gift of health and nascent fitness by slipping into injury on shiny cobbles. The mighty brooding Atlantic waited for me to acknowledge it, then surged and receded next to my running route: Impossible to ignore, I borrowed some of that immense energy to start me off.
The first minutes passed by over level land then gave way to rising ground. Aching thigh muscles quickly got my attention to force down my pace and as I ran on I felt every successive stretch of upward incline more keenly than I had in W9R1.
An approaching delivery van on a narrow lane had me running on the spot for a few seconds in a passing recess, reminding me that you can expend energy even while covering no ground at all: in energy-burning terms even the very slowest of running can trump walking, better aiding fitness.
On my way again, an elegant, lithe senior runner approached. Closing, I recognised her as someone I had seen in town a couple of days prior and had at that time mentally asked myself what I thought she did to look so well. Now I had my answer: running. Good answer, best answer, proof of the pudding. We passed and went on our respective ways.
I reached a point on my route that as a path vaguely resembles a tiny St Bernard’s Pass (picture the beginning of ‘The Italian Job’ 1969, no it’s not the Stelvio Pass), hairpinning upwards to-and-fro, rising too steeply for me at this stage to maintain flow of movement much beyond the lower reaches, so with breathing too rapid I turned, corrected pace, and ran on.
Back to level ground and cobbles, I hit halfway and was aware of feeling the run more than I did in W9R1, maybe some subconscious complacency having already comfortably run once for thirty minutes. I pressed on, slowly, approaching then passing a couple of runners, exchanging a greeting. A little later I saw they had doubled back and just when I needed it they were there running past, smiling genuinely and broadly, lifting me: Never underestimate the value of a positive expression, a thumbs up, a passing kind word.
I hit my final section, falling ground with several steps, then level cobbles and finish. I ran on beyond that finish just twenty seconds or so, to prove to myself I could, even then, glad to have completed a testing run near the limit of what I can handle right now. W9R3 awaits…
Week 9, run 3... Completed
W9R2 - Penultimate Run!
Week 9 run 1
Week 9 run 1 done! now for those last 2...............!!
Hated week 2 run 1
