Thursday 29 August, 2.30pm. Warm and sunny. 22-26°C
I'd planned to run yesterday. It was showery. I got engrossed in work and every time I resurfaced it was raining. Then it hammered down in the evening and went dark.
OK, Wednesday was an extra rest day. I can accept that.
Today I realised that lunchtime had passed but I hadn't had a run, so quickly kitted up and got out ahead of my 3.30pm work video call. Just time for a short run, so I do my two mile (3.22 km) loop.
Thinnest tee shirt in fluorescent yellow, trail shorts, below-ankle socks, peaked cap and prescription cycling sunglasses.
Out the door, notice that the roses need dead-heading again, and do some quick dynamic stretches whilst I'm waiting for the watch to get a GPS lock.
Next door neighbour is using loud power tools in his garage.
Warm up walk is five minutes, the same as in Couch to 5K. Except for parkrun, I always do a five minute warm up.
Brambles are trying to grow out of a hedge into the pathway. Some are bearing berries already.
The warm up complete, I start at a jog. A cyclist gives way to me at a side road. Outside the Spar, a bus pulls up to the bus stop. I could have used that as an opportunity to cross the road, but there was the possibility of not being seen by a car pulling round the bus.
A little while later the bus passed by, followed by the other traffic trapped by it. Eventually there was a suitable gap in the traffic for me to cross over. At the next bus shelter a man sat with his head in his hands. I let out an "Afternoon!" but got no reply.
No water tankers outside the school today. On the path beside the school I encountered a teenager who seemed to want to give a fist bump but was offered a "Good afternoon" instead. He did respond in kind. Then there was a lady with a dog that might have been an XL Bully but I couldn't be sure, and I wasn't hanging around to find out.
The wide path is a bit overgrown by now and two guys coming up the slope moved to single file to let me past.
A bit further on a couple were walking. It was much wider and clearer by then. She heard the patter of my feet (more like slap-slap-slap) and turned to see what was behind her, but he didn't turn. They both replied to my greeting.
Into the dip of the college access road then up the climb to the traffic lights. I paused a few seconds at the top, my calf muscles protesting at having been used properly for the first time in weeks, then I continued.
The Home Straight is all that was left. A family taking up the whole pavement forces me into the bike lane for a few seconds.
I don't really know how much distance is left as there's a bug in the watch software which doesn't show it, only the elapsed time. (I know it is on the beta test software, but it's annoying when Garmin haven't tested such basic functionality before sending it out for wider testing. Hopefully it'll be fixed in a few days.) I do roughly know the spot when I normally finish on and the watch does beep to say I've completed the distance.
My leg muscles were complaining all through the final kilometre. I walk homewards and they recover a bit.
I often do a little sprint section between two bus stops. I weigh it up in my mind and decide to go for it. About half way along, just at the point where the slope steepens, a wheelie bin is in the middle of the pavement, partially blocking it. There's a plank of wood sticking out of it at an angle. To the right (away from the road) I'm suddenly aware of a guy carrying another length of wood in my direction. Thankfully he's seen me and pauses until I'm past. Phew! That could have been nasty.
I continue on until the watch beeps just as I'm arriving at the second bus stop. I lean on the wall there, then sit on a low wall just below the bus stop for a few seconds, before continuing the walk home, where I find the secateurs and tidy the roses whilst grinding noises continue from next door's garage.
Stats:
Duration: 29'06" total (18'11" running plus 56.2" sprint)
Distance: 4.26 km total (3.22km running plus 200m sprint)
Splits (by km): 5'54", 5'23", 5'38", (last 220m) 5'46"/km + 200m@4'41"/km
And the watch now says I'm "strained". Well, my leg muscles did tingle a bit in the late afternoon, but I was expecting that.
Tomorrow will be a rest day — got to give the calf muscles time to rebuild. If I'm up early enough I'll do a bit of a walk in the morning before starting work. And then parkrun on Saturday.
I know what to do next!
I'm melting......warm and toasty in Cambridge...
W8R3 Not happy 😡
