I went out this morning full of optimism, having completed both Stepping Stone and Speed during the week with no ill (post-flu) effects. So what could be better than reverting to an old favourite route and trying for a compete Stamina run? Well, think again. Lots of little problems came along to niggle me....
First of all, pesky Garmin refused to find its satellite for about 10 minutes. I didn't want to start running without timing it so I had to repeat the warm-up walk. Not a big issue but a pain. Second, as I left the house there were fine flurries of snow coming down. Not enough to settle but plenty to get in my eyes and make it harder to see where I was going. Never mind - on I went and the first few minutes actually felt much easier than the first 5 on Thursday (you know that leaden-legs feeling?)
By the time Laura said "we're going to move it up a notch now" I was approaching the local recreation grounds/park where I usually do a couple of circuits. However, by now the snow was coming at me horizontally, fuelled by a bitter crosswind. Intrepid as ever, I kept going for as long I could.... but eventually my body got the better of me and I decided to take a walk. The walk started being 1 minute.... then 2....... but at 3 minutes I thought I'd give running another try. By this time the park was getting noticeably busier - lots of very fit-looking people in professional-looking gear. I ran past an ominous sign that said "This way to the start" and another that said "1st lap turn left". Clearly something was going on and I didn't want to get caught up in it - let alone mistaken for a participant!
Having had one walking break my heart wasn't really in the run any more, so I decided to walk home. On the way I asked what the event is - apparently it's the Winchester 10K today and what a charming day (gloomy, snow at times) for it. One "helpful" person even said I was going the wrong way for the start - surely the beetroot coloured face should have been a clue that I'd finished my "run". Final distance 3.57K in 25 mins, of which 3 were walking. On a positive note (for there must be one) my first 2 kms were at 7 min/km pace, which is 35 mins for 5K. I'm actually quite pleased with that.
Next week's plan is to repeat this week - Stepping Stone and Speed during the week and yet another attempt at Stamina next Sunday. Have a good week everyone