Monday was a gloriously sunny day and unseasonal 17C, so I just had to take advantage of it and run, especially as the forecast for the rest of the week was for wall to wall rain!
I hadn't had a training email from Coach Steph for the week so decided to do 5 miles and just run for the love of being able to run and hoping that when it arrived there was something similar I could match it up with and tick off!
Yarde towards Petrockstowe then ............. turning at the second white post in the middle of the track and hoping it would be the halfway mark!
Of course most of you reading this will have absolutely no idea what white post I'm talking about but just indulge me!
It was blooming hot, but lovely to be just running and taking in the sights and sounds of autumn, although the last mile is uphill and I hate it ......
Yes, yes, I know I've declared my love for running up hills and I do, but just not this one! It's a gentle incline and seems to go on for ever ........ give me a steep hill any day!
I finally got to the top and and the car park to find I'd only run 4.8 miles ..... well what's 0.2 of a mile anyway? Oh, and to find Coach Stephs training email in my inbox!
Guess what?
There was a 5 mile run on it!
The only snag was that miles 2,3 and 4 should be as close to race pace as possible.
Do you think miles 1 and 2 at race pace would count instead??
I bet you're dying to know what the other two runs are aren't you?
First up hill reps and the other a 30 minute easy run, focusing on form, foot placement and stride.
I was dying to get stuck into the hill reps but due to time constraints on Wednesday I opted for the 30 minute easy run, taking the opportunity to stop off at Petrockstowe on my way back from one of my farms.
It was pouring with raining when I set off but eased a bit and under the tree canopy I stayed fairly dry.
My first mile was 9.57 ......whoops! Better slow down then, this is meant to be an easy run!
As I was about to turn on a bend at roughly halfway I met a lady running towards me with her dogs so we stopped for a quick discussion as to who was running the fastest and needed to go in front....... It seemed this was me!
Despite all this I clearly hadn't slowed down as my second mile was 9.59 .......
I knew that I was still running quite fast as I went into my third mile, spurred on mainly by the thought that I might be holding up the other lady and her training, however I was amazed that my time was 9.28!!!!
And yes, the bird on my phone was actually being reliable for a change!
I might not have done three miles at race pace during my run on Monday but I sure made up for it here!!
Back at the car park I had a lovely chat with the other lady who it turns out wasn't training but runs with Okehampton running club.
The rain continued ........
On Friday morning I had a rather frustrating time with gridlocked traffic on single track roads on my way to and from a farm due to road closures and an accident so it was almost lunchtime when I got home BUT I had hill reps to do and as I don't run well in the afternoon .... we set off to Yarde and my favourite hill (the opposite direction to Monday)
It was pouring with rain and I couldn't get GPS , no matter as the run was by time not miles and I had the stop watch for time ..... so off I went.
Apart from the OB and the woofers the only other mad people I met were a lady with a bog brush on a lead and a bloke who seemed to be lurking and taking photos of the ground ..... presumably the leaves but who knows. ( which reminds me I really must take some photo's for this blog!) I don't think he really knew what to make of me running backwards and forwards ....... however if you're reading this Mr. Lurker, this is what I was doing ....
10 minute warm up ( the first time I past you!)
5 x 20 sec strides with 40 sec recovery (you hadn't caught up)
5 x 3 minute hill reps with easy jog back (that's why I was running hard up hill and then jogging back past you!)
5 minute cool down.
I loved the whole session and didn't even notice that I'd got drenched until I dripped all over the OB's truck!!!!
*OB - Old bloke
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