After yesterday’s run, my best half marathon for a while, I felt every one of my 47 years and a few more for good measure.
I woke feeling old, unfit and creaky. My legs were heavy and even walking was more akin to a waddle.
But I’ve become a great advocate in recent months of a day after recovery run, no matter how much my body protested.
It was handy that this was a Monday, that meant club and that extra motivation to get out and run.
I hadn’t planned on running up for a change, deciding a walk would be enough to loosen me up.
However, Iverene messaged to say she was considering parking at mine and running up herself so that was the decision made for me, it would be much easier running with someone anyway.
Iverene was feeling it after yesterday too, so we both decided it would be prudent just to go for a gentle run.
Ummmm. Yeah. About that. It usually takes me around 11 minutes or slightly over. Tonight it took almost exactly ten!
I’m can’t speak for Iverene but I know my legs felt good straightaway. Any lingering part of Belfast that was in them left as soon as I started running.
Arriving at club, it was the 30 minute group again. It was an experienced group tonight, with a few from Belfast all using it as a recovery, and those that weren’t were old hands at this running lark anyway.
That meant it promised to be a speedy session as far as the 30s went, and so it proved.
Granted, it wasn’t as fast as the run up but it was still fairly nifty and at a quicker pace than yesterday.
This was good. It was quite comfortable at the same time, never at any point did I feel under pressure even though I was trying to take it as easy as I could.
Session over, it was time to run back home.
Aided, admittedly, by the fact it was ever so slightly downhill we actually took this quicker than the run up, making it back in around 9:35 or thereabouts!
So much for taking it easy, this was just what my legs needed!
HUFF, PUFF AND SHUFFLE 