A good week including 7:41 mile

Started October well.  Only managing 22 miles during September (including that 7 mile run!) I've been out 3 times in the first week of the month, so currently am ahead of my mile a day target.  No resting on laurels though - I'll be back out tomorrow morning.  Interestingly I don't have an external window in my hotel room so will have to hope the weather is good...

Two 3 mile runs from my hotel at Tower Bridge.  The second one equalled my training PB but is a bit annoying, as I felt great at the beginning but all clumsy on the way back.  I also took 20 seconds to go up a spiral stair while making no progress, so it's still a win.

Then I did a speed training mile on Sunday - a success as it was running at home for the first time since the start of September - actually the first proper run at home since I got the garmin.  (That's mixed up with Marisca sleeping less well).  I did a mile in 7:41 which is 10 seconds less than my previous best, although again really badly paced, there's a definite slope on the pace for that mile.  Jogged back.

It was also the first go with the heart rate monitor.  It'll take more playing to really understand this.  My base rate at home was 84 bpm, and this went from 168 at the start of the run proper, having lollopped down to the canal, up to 178 at the end of the fast mile.  I knew I was pushing myself pretty hard, so will need to have a go with my normal 28 minute 5ks to see what rate I get.  168-178 comes too high according to a couple of quick lookups on the internet, but I'm not too bothered just yet.

Lost in Windsor, 7 miles @9:53. 10k in 1:01:26

I'd planned a different post about 15 minutes into this run.  I was in Windsor for a conference type thing, and stayed over the preceding night.  So I had plenty of time for a run in the morning.  Opted for a 5k run around the outside of the grounds, altering the easy route slightly to go through the deer park.  It was a long mile uphill, then a really nice early morning run through the park, with bellowing stags and everything. 

I got an inkling that something was wrong but kept going anyway, until after about 4 miles I looked at the little map thing on my GPS watch and discovered I was about as far from the start as I'd been.  So I kept running, using a combination of GPS watch and guesswork to trek back along roads to the start.  The whole journey was about 9 miles.  I ran the first 10k (I've run 10k!) and then another mile or so of the rest, walking mostly.

So, I've run a lot further than I've run before.  My hips really hurt later in the day with a lot of standing around, and my knee still feels stiff.  The longest I'd done before was 4.5 miles, so it was a big increase.  I'm glad I've done it, as it shows that I can, and it would have taken me a long time to work up to it.  I might try longer runs now as part of my routine - not as much as 10k though!

Belfast PB - 27:12 @ 8:45

I didn't write about my best time to date - 27:12 for 5k in Belfast on the 31st August.  It was flat, along the river, and a chilly day, which kept me going.  I'm not sure how I went 20 seconds a mile quicker than before, but I guess these factors are involved.

Makes me feel good to realise that today's run @9:00 is the second fastest on this distance - the only times I've gone quicker (since my garmin, but I think it's true in general) are the Belfast run and short sprints.

A nice run in London, 5k@9:00

I write as I cool down from a really nice run in London.  Sweat still beading on my brow.  I'm staying at Westminster, and ran over the bridge and up to Buckingham Palace through St James Park, and then bumbled around Green Park a bit.  I really like Green Park - slightly bumpy, lovely trees, open space.  Smells of Outside, rather than of London.  Surprising how much of a difference it makes, compared to my usual running along the river which is much better than along roads, but not great.

I've not written for a little while because I have a new check in mechanism with my garmin which gives me loads of interesting info to play with.  Particularly on my mind at the moment is two goals I set recently - one to run 25 miles in a month from mid August, and then a tougher target of a mile a day during September.  I'm paying attention to these, I think in part because they're being genuinely tracked through my device.  The mile a day is interesting because I try to run 2-3 times a week and usually intend to do 5k (3 miles).  If I achieve this I'm doing about a mile a day.

My first target is nearly there - if I do 2 miles tomorrow or the next day I'll be fine.  I've fallen behind on the September target though so will be doing a lot more running this week while I'm in London.  So I'm very pleased that I enjoyed today so much!

An evening run revisited, 5k @ 9:28

I ran a very similar route to the hot evening run I did a couple of weeks ago.  From the tower down to the millennium bridge and over, back along the south bank to tower bridge.  This time I did the extra bit of shuffling to make it 5k.  It was starting at 6 in the morning which is my usual time for a run, rather than the evening.  Interestingly I wasn't more than a couple of seconds a mile different from that run.  I'd have thought I may have been quicker as there were fewer people in the way.  Then again, the extra 0.4 miles I did would have been at slower-than-average pace so maybe I was a bit quicker.

Speed not being everything, it was a lovely run.  I'm now on the train home later that day and I feel better in myself for doing a wun.  And considering a little run tomorrow ahead of another 5k, in Belfast, on Friday.  Fun!

First sprints

Not really sprints.  I've been thinking about running a bit faster and have thought it would be interesting to try out interval-type training.  So I had a go on an errands run yesterday.  I ran "fast" up Victoria road to Saltaire road and then as-fast-as-I-could up the next bit to the Bradford road.

The "fast" was 45 seconds of 6 min/mile.  It was uphill, but felt like a nice flying speed that I'd like to learn to run at and increase the distance that I can run at this pace.

The "fast-as-I-could" was also uphill and only for 16 seconds, at 4:45 min/mile.  With this one I might try 20-second proper sprints as part of the run, see how fast I can go.  Just for fun really.

The main thing holding me back is that I want to run long each time I go out - it seems that, given there's inertia involved in getting out there, I should be making the most of each time I do, by running 5k or so.  I'll monitor and, of course, report back.

Two London runs

In London all week and went out twice in the early mornings. My evening run didn't sit well with me last week: too busy with people. I was staying by tower bridge and for once didn't run by the river. I found a nice quiet road, half of which was cycle paths, and ran along it and back. Not exactly inspiring but it made a nice change.

First run was supposed to be 5K. I had to wait for ages for my gadget to pick up satellites and I got somewhat bored and walked some of the way home so it ended up being about 2 miles of running. Today though I did the same route and did the full distance, in 28 or so minutes. I really do seem to be motivated by previous failed attempts! I've now got a few small goals like running a total of 25 miles next month, so will see if that helps me get out more regularly, which is what I want to do.