Wednesday was the second run of week 7. We are normally up and out the door by 5:40 for our run but Tuesday evening I had a works do.
Although close to Christmas, it was not our Christmas do, it was our big bosses meet and greet of new starters since the last event and apparently not to be missed. Plus we had been given £200 each as the memo put it: "towards hair, makeup and a new frock!". In addition we were given the afternoon off to get ready, and taxi to and from the venue. That all made it impossible to refuse even on a school night!
As it turns out, it was brilliant. The food was prepared by his brother-in-law who is apparently a famous French chef brought over for the occasion. All the waiters spoke to us in French and we either nodded and they carried on, or looked confused and they would then repeat it in English (with a strong French accent which made it equally unintelligible). Even with Google translate the menus gave little clue about the dish so we were all in the dark about what we had chosen. When the food arrived, some were still not sure what it was. However, after one mouthful, we did not care, it was heaven on a plate. There were a total of 7 courses and we were given different wines for nearly all of them and some I only managed to take one sip.
Needless to say, after all that food and not getting home until nearly midnight Wednesdays early morning run was probably not going to go well. Even with my boyfriend taking the dogs for their walk first, I still struggled to get up at 7.
After mistakenly running 28 mins on Monday, we made sure we did the correct 25 mins for the second run. At least it was bright and dry.
To say I found it hard is an understatement. My legs felt like I was 5 stone heavier and running through treacle. What was normally a gentle upward slope turned into a steep hill and someone had stolen all the downward sections. My boyfriend found my suffering quite funny and I was glad I had not managed more of the wines.
Every time there was an update on the app about my progress, I was hoping it was to say I had finished. At one point I even checked my phone to see if it was still working. Once the run was over, my brisk cool-down walk was anything but brisk.
The good news is that I finished the 25 minutes without stopping and am almost certain I can class it all as running. I skipped breakfast, and lunch consisted of an apple and I was not that hungry when it came to the evening either.
I felt OK today and plan an early night ready for the last week 7 run tomorrow. Then I really am onto the 28 minute runs.