(weird stuff going on with the site so delayed the post which should have been on Friday)
So.... 4 runs down from my first post at W7R2.... Now appear to be running for 28 minutes at a time and have done it 3 times! This seems so ludicrous to me that I can't really believe it and am grinning with bemusement as I type it and see it there in black and white.
However, I have made some tweaks to my schedule.
Earlier starts - I really want to be back home well before 7. When I was getting up at 6, or slightly before I really didn't seem able to leave before 6.15 at the earliest and with the sessions now lasting about 40 minutes that was just too tight - only real option given I don’t want to run later in the day, is to leave a bit earlier. My alarm now goes off at 5.45 am on Mon/Wed/Fri which are my self-appointed Run Days. Luckily the light is already flooding through the windows which I leave open and blind-less. (I have pushed to the back of my mind how this might feel when the hour changes - but on the plus side - I am already assuming that I will still be getting up to run when the hour changes – and that's not until October....)
Learned - This really works - I am invariably on the warm-up walk at just gone 6 and home again by 6.50. But, as the following proves, I’m not really with it that early. last week I got home to find that my T-shirt had been put on inside out. I had felt so together and pleased with myself that this realisation was a shock. It was so obvious too since it had a written part that was backwards in messy embroidery. I mentally calculated how many people could have noticed – 3 probably and 4 possibly (drivers)... However, it hadn't had any real impact on the run itself. This morning though I had to pause my warm-up walk when I realised that my leggings were on back to front - noticed only when I put my phone in the leg pocket and it felt really odd around the back of my thigh.... I did vaguely wonder if I could get away with it but it was very uncomfortable and not going to work at all. Then I learned that I can't get the leggings off over the very splayed out Hoka shoe heels....Obviously I only learned this out by attempting it. I was delayed for several minutes struggling to balance half in/half out of the legging which was not going to get over the shoe. (The shoe was laced by the man in the shop with an odd twist at the last two holes which makes them stay laced at the correct tension but does make them more time consuming to remove) Going forward - Check clothes BEFORE putting them on. I can't believe I'm actually sharing this - I sound like a lunatic!
Different type of hat - My baseball cap which served both to make me feel less recognisable (they can't see me - they can't see me) and so I couldn't see the gradient acting against me was too hot. At the start of my career (last century) I remember presenting to a group of senior people at a client. I knew my subject matter really well but I was really anxious about the presentation and the last minute and unhelpful input from my MD. I remember sweating through my suit – the shame! Anyway, I can now sweat through my baseball cap which is neither comfortable nor attractive. What I really need is a visor – which I have somewhere in my chaotic home, but couldn’t find. I went shopping and couldn’t find one there either so ended up with a very light baseball cap that I thought might do the trick. However, that was a mistake as it was waterproof – just as waterproof from the inside as the out so just as uncomfortable.
Learned – Look for the sun visor and/or tidy the house and/or do not be seduced into something that isn’t quite right. I knew I needed to keep most of my head exposed and got sucked into a compromise that just wasted money. I guess when I am fitter and during those Winter runs maybe the waterproof light hat will come into its own. Without wanting to jinx it, not one of my runs has been wet so far…
Water – Internal and External. Don’t forget to drink. I keep reading about dehydration so gulp down at least a glass before bed and before leaving. Whilst all my runs have been rain-free, they have not always been dry. Early mornings bring dew and dew brings wet grass and wet grass can mean wet feet as the water seeps instantly into my shoes. I don’t much like starting off with wet feet – but I do like the warm up in a certain grassy garden moments from the house which has a fabulous view (which I might post when I graduate). Its always a bit of a toss up once I feel the chilly damp whether to try and head for something dryer or carry on enjoying the views.
Learned – Dew is a friend and foe. Whilst I really don’t like wet feet, by the end of the runs I am properly hot and by accident I ran along an overgrown path where the grasses alongside were thigh high. They were still covered with dew, but wet legs are a completely different and positive thing in the last 5 minutes. It was as if I was being gently sprayed with some sort of body spritz which was both cooling and reviving. I am hoping that nobody cuts it down as I can now aim for it strategically and get natural pick me up!
Changed route – I decided to carry on after the half-way mark for a while on my favoured loop and then turn around and go back for a different view and to see what an almost imperceptible downhill option felt like compared to a definite downhill. I can say categorically that at the moment there is no such thing as an almost imperceptible uphill for me, but the reverse is quite pleasant and I felt I was probably getting more of a balanced run than previously.
Learned – a change is not always as good as a rest. Throwing caution to the wind for W8R3 I decided to reverse the whole route, meaning I had to start with a genuine uphill climb. I’d thought that not knowing where I was likely to be at any point (given it was reversed) might be better and a nice change. It was not. The effort involved in going properly up for around 10 minutes meant I was more tired than I am used to, much earlier. Because I refuse to look at the timer and don’t wear a watch, I had no concept of how far I’d gone in time. The halfway bell felt much longer into the run than it had previously and despite the gradient acting for me on the way back, it was hard going. In fact, despite my strict rule about not looking I had actually got as far as pulling my phone out of my pocket (on the correct side of my leg 😊) to check, just as Sarah said “you can start to slow down now”. I have never slowed down with such relief.
However, I don’t think I will repeat W8 – but I will think carefully about everything I’ve learned since May 1st before setting out on W9 next week….
W8R3 - Nearly time to graduate!!! What’s next?
First post grad run, second parkrun.
what should I do next?
W8R3 - not quite what I'd planned
Postscript to article on Hydration! What I learned at the Doctor's this morning.
