My Dublin training plan called for an easy 90 minutes yesterday (Sunday) but due to family circumstances which resulted in me spending most of the day in A&E I neither had the time nor inclination to go out for a run.
However, not wanting to miss out on my miles, I decided to do the 90 minutes tonight, whilst incorporating the club 30-minute session. In other words, run to club, run with club and run back home again, albeit taking the scenic route.
With the forecast predicting thunderstorms I wasn’t entirely looking forward to it. The run up to the leisure centre took the usual casual 12 minutes, more by way of a warm up than anything else really. My legs felt heavy, clunky and clumsy but they often do during this little run.
I did toy with the idea of going with the 45s, but with ‘easy’ in mind, elected to stick with my original decision to run with the 30s.
It was a small group – just the leader Beverly, myself and three others. Because it was small I guessed it was going to be fairly pacy as the 30s go but I welcomed this, I had plenty of time to go ‘easy’ afterwards.
As I said, my legs felt heavy on the run up, so a few speedier miles would hopefully loosen them up … and so it proved.
We did the first mile in just over 11 minutes but, to be honest, it felt comfortable enough. The second mile came in at something similar and it was only by the third mile, when a couple in the group began to struggle a little, did the pace drop but even then it was still 11-minutes something.
The route took us through the town before turning for the Ecos Conservation Park and out the other side … and that meant the quite steep hill at the end. I can never resist a hill, so I decided to tackle it head on and was pleased to make it to the top without letting it beat me.
I always get a good run with Beverly, and tonight was no exception. Thanks Beverly, and remember to keep a wee bun for me on Wednesday night!
After that I still had 40 minutes to do to make up my 90 … and this was the most difficult part of the evening, mentally at least.
If I’m honest, I couldn’t really be bothered but I knew it was important to do it, both to keep my mileage up and, perhaps crucially, to win the battle with my mind.
I had no real route in mind. I think if I had I wouldn’t have done it so decided, instead, to literally just run to the end of one street and make up my mind whereabouts to go after that!
I also think I need to redefine what I mean by ‘easy’ because each of the miles I did on my own more or less matched those I did with the club. That’s a good thing, though, because surely it means I’m generally improving.
Anyway, like I said, those final 40 minutes were a struggle. I wanted to give up early, not because I was tired but simply because I was bored.
But, in the end, I ran in circles close to home to get the minutes done … a lot of hassle and nuisance at the time. I was glad at the end that I’d overruled every ‘what’s the point?’ instinct to cut the run short.
HUFF, PUFF AND SHUFFLE 