Quite often when I’m running I attempt to distract myself by trying to come up with a title for my latest blog entry.
Usually it gets me over moments in my run when I’m not feeling it and by the time I’ve decided what to call my latest ramblings I’ve got over whatever little hump was bothering me at the time.
Tonight I didn’t have to do that. Just before I left the house I was listening to the radio, just for background noise – I don’t normally listen to music radio, and on came ‘Shake It Out’ by Florence and the Machine.
That was absolutely perfect. Tonight’s run – a club night, it’s a Monday – was going to be all about recovery.
After unexpectedly suffering from cramp after my half yesterday my legs felt heavier than usual. I didn’t want to go out this evening. I could very easily stayed at home and rested … but I knew it was probably best for me to go for a gentle run, to shake my legs out as it were.
As has been the norm lately I ran to club. The idea of this pre-run ‘run’ is to warm up with nothing more than a very gentle jog but tonight I couldn’t even manage that. For some reason, despite going as slow as I could, I ended up getting there a minute quicker than expected. Wait. What?
I’m supposed to be taking it easy. Admittedly, quick for me isn’t quick at all for the vast majority of runners, but it’s all relative.
Anyway, I wasn’t going to do anything else other than 30s again. At the risk of repeating myself and protesting too much, I do enjoy this group after a long Sunday run. It suits my schedule perfectly, and with a run there and a run back home I do have the opportunity to carry on for longer if I feel like it.
The route tonight took us from the Leisure Centre towards the chapel, down Parkway, then along the Cullybackey Road into a strong headwind before turning off for Upper Princes Street and down the other side.
I enjoyed it because it felt uphill even though, apart from the Cullybackey/Princes Street section, it wasn’t really. Sometimes what a run feels like is every bit as important as what it actually was … running is a mental game, after all.
After that we ran down past the fire station before crossing at Harryville Bridge. At this point I bid my farewells and ran on home alone. I was only a kilometre or so away so it made sense just go that way rather than the opposite direction back to base, especially since I was only wanting a gentle run anyway. I’d still have done 45 minutes tonight, that was plenty.
April has been my busiest running month so far this year, I’ve done more miles than I managed in January, February or March and beat my target so I’m going to ‘treat’ myself to an easier few days just to see the month out. Hopefully the ‘rest’ will do me good.
HUFF, PUFF AND SHUFFLE 