Runstreak Day #150 - flies... again...

150 days!!!!! One hundred and flippin' fifty days of running every day! Flip. Ping. Heck!!!!

And today I ran my 400th mile of the year as well. *looks at legs proudly*

It wasn't pretty though.

Today I had a dose of PMR (pre-menstrual running) which is always sluggish and a bit leaden-legged. Y'know though, that was survivable... but on top of that, there were the bloody flies. Swarms of the damnable things. Flies, flies, flies in eyes, flies in hair, flies, more flies, flies in mouth, flies on clothes... did I mention the dratted flies? Cooer they are bloody annoying. I must look like a complete nutcase running along alternating between flapping and covering my mouth with my hands. One eye closed, the other one squinting. And still the little blighters manage to find a way to penetrate my cunning defenses. Which, coupled with the PMR, made for one irritable me!

The saving grace (apart from it being Day 150 - yay!) was that my daughter came with me, riding her bike. Which meant that in between eating my own bodyweight in flies, we managed to chat. And she was a happy bunny and it was some nice 'us' time. Until the chain came off her bike and I had to attempt putting it back on. Which I managed and then, in wiping the damn flies off my face, ended up with black grubby marks to complement the fly-sweat combo all over my chops.

It wasn't pretty. If you see reports in the local press about a dripping, smeary-faced, flappy handed mad woman running around the countryside in Nottinghamshire... consider me your claim to fame.

However, PMR, flies, filthy face, sweat, grot and everything else aside... 150 DAYS BABY!!!!! WOOOOOO HOOOOO!!!

*happy dances*

Geeky stats stuff

Distance:	3.35 mi
Time:	26:14
Avg Pace:	7:50 min/mi

Time:	26:14
Moving Time:	26:18
Elapsed Time:	47:46

Avg Pace:	7:50 min/mi
Avg Moving Pace:	7:51 min/mi
Best Pace:	6:16 min/mi

Runstreak Day #149 - just a nice evening run...

Okay, so there were flies.  Lots of flies.  And I needed a pee (too much detail?!)

But it was lovely out.  Nice comfortable pace.  Not a 'collapse in a heap tiredness' at the end.  And, importantly, relief that the long run I did yesterday didn't impact how I felt today with my running.

The thing was, I needed a nice gentle run.  Today would have been my Dad's birthday and nearly four years after he died, I still miss his as much as the day he passed away.  And on his day especially.  Running is a particular kind of head space.  A particular kind of calm.  He would never have thought I could run.  I think he felt my defining characteristic was being clever (whatever that really means!).  Nerdy girl does running.  He wouldn't have seen that coming.

I wonder what he would have thought of me going for a run and thinking about him on his birthday?  He'd have recognised the one who was at work at a university all day... but this version?  I doubt it!

In a busy day, running gave me the space breath to think about you and let you drift in my thoughts without it becoming overwhelming.

Happy birthday Dad.

Geeky stats stuff

Distance:	2.42 mi
Time:	20:13
Avg Pace:	8:22 min/mi

Time:	20:13
Moving Time:	20:13
Elapsed Time:	20:13

Avg Pace:	8:22 min/mi
Avg Moving Pace:	8:22 min/mi
Best Pace:	6:47 min/mi

Runstreak Day #148 - 8.5 miles baby!!

Most people can't spot it, but today, if anyone sees me, I will have a little happy glow about me.  Like the Ready Brek kid.  Only not a kid.  And I haven't eaten any Ready Brek...

What I have done is run 8 and a half miles!!!  My furthest ever distance!  And it's all thanks to a running buddy who ran with me.  She can run a marathon, I can run a fair-paced 5k... she goes further and slower... I go shorter but faster.  Together we helped each other find a place in between which meant I went further than I've run before while she ran faster.  It was brilliant!  A 'conversational pace' - I now get what that means!!  A really nice route.  Company while I ran.  Nice.  I even felt like I could have carried on... which gives me hope for my first half marathon in September!

It's times like this that I really love running most.  When it proves to you yet again that you can do more than you ever thought you could.  When you get past mental blocks which threaten to constrain you.  When you realise that your body is this brilliant thing that has so much potential... but which is so often neglected / abused.  Running past Wollaton Hall and past the deer, realising I'd run for longer than 1 hour 10 minutes (my previous longest time on my running legs!) I felt completely and utterly happy.

And I may have just done some aeroplane arming down the hill.  :o)

I've earned my cuppa and a roast din dins!

Running is properly awesome.  YAY!!

Geeky stats stuff

Distance:	8.46 mi
Time:	1:22:20
Avg Pace:	9:44 min/mi

Time:	1:22:20
Moving Time:	1:22:11
Elapsed Time:	1:22:40

Avg Pace:	9:44 min/mi
Avg Moving Pace:	9:43 min/mi
Best Pace:	6:45 min/mi

Runstreak Day #147 - Sub-25 minute Parkrun - woooo hoooo!!!!

Yay!!  It finally happened!  I got a sub-25 minute 5k... which, in my weirdly Virgoan perfectionist logic, 'counts' because someone else timed it!  Yay!!  Am pleased because it averaged at 7:58 mins per mile, which is also good for me because a) it's under 8 mins per mile and b) I didn't stop to stretch my aching legs part way round (still suffering from post-garden achy legs!).

Found the first half was filled with pretty crippling nerves and the urge to run off or stop (again!!)... and strangely in the second half there was no-one much that I could see in front of me and no-one much immediately behind - I seem to occupy a weird space in the middle between the fast runners and the others - and felt like I was running on my own, so calmed myself down enough to keep on keeping on.

Really REALLY hate the nerves I have with running with large groups of people.  Nightmares overnight (about running and being caught by someone who's going to kill me - gotta love my inner drama queen!).  The normal parkrun laxative effect.  And that horrible feeling of not quite being in control of my pace.  Plus, I'm still overwhelmed by the feeling that I just can't keep up with other people and at the end there will be someone with a 'you're not a proper runner' sign pointing in my direction!!

Anyhoo... am dead chuffed at getting a sub-25 minute Parkrun time!  Not bad for a nearly 40-something who would have argued until she was blue in the face that she could *not* run and would *never* run just 18 months ago!!  That version of me really was a daft bat.

Geeky stats stuff

Distance:	3.13 mi
Time:	24:55
Avg Pace:	7:58 min/mi

Time:	24:55
Moving Time:	24:55
Elapsed Time:	24:55

Avg Pace:	7:58 min/mi
Avg Moving Pace:	7:58 min/mi
Best Pace:	6:02 min/mi

Runstreak Day #146 - the day after the gardening before

You know when it's been a hard run when you look at your distance and know that with just 0.1 mile more, you could have got another complete mile done... but there's not a part of you that wants to do it.  I've had that run.

It's mainly because I broke myself gardening yesterday.  Digging over my veggie patch, planting spuds, beans, peas, fruit bushes, sowing seeds... all very virtuous... but bloomin' heck the backs of my legs are killing me today!  I'm walking like a robotic pensioner and making 'ooof' noises every time I get up from a chair.  It wasn't too bad once I started running, but I did make sure that I stopped every so often to stretch and stop myself from seizing up!

That said, it wasn't as warm as yesterday - in fact, I ended up wearing gloves as it was cold and there were no running shorts in sight.  Plus, there was no fly swallowing!  Hooray!!  There was mist and light drizzle... but my littlest really wanted to come with me and it was nice having his ridiculously competitive-bike-riding-whirlwind-boyish company.  Mind you, he does speed off and I have to leg it to catch him up!  I get to do intervals just by keeping up with my 8 year old!

One cuppa cha, a soak in the bath and feet up later, the memory of those aching legs is dulling.

And another run bites the dust!

Geeky stats stuff

Distance:	2.93 mi
Time:	23:21
Avg Pace:	7:58 min/mi

Time:	23:21
Moving Time:	23:22
Elapsed Time:	28:29

Avg Pace:	7:58 min/mi
Avg Moving Pace:	7:58 min/mi
Best Pace:	4:49 min/mi

Runstreak day #145 - otherwise known as 'the good, the bad and the ugly'...

The good? I ran wearing my running shorts and it felt sooooooo nice!

The bad? The bloody flies! Damn swarms of gnats to run through which get into your eyes, mouth and any other orifice they can bloomin' well make their way into. YEURGH!!!

The ugly? An embarrassing incident with a rather weak pelvic floor... if y'know what I mean... *hangs head in shame*

And you know what made the last one worse? The flippin' flies! I swallowed one, coughed... a lot... and... it was a 'laughing whilst trampolining after you've had kids' moment. Which, in light grey running shorts, isn't exactly easy to hide!!!! Picture the scene... 39-year old woman, coughing, peeing and trying to keep on running, braving it out, despite the ever increasing evidence that all is not well... not good... not good. 

The moral of the story? Nature can be cruel, but at least you are already running away from anyone who might be laughing at you as you go past!

Could someone make me a cuppa? I'm in need of one! Desperate need!

*happy dances... carefully*

Geeky stats stuff

Main run:

Distance:	2.37 mi
Time:	19:32
Avg Pace:	8:14 min/mi

Time:	19:32
Moving Time:	19:31
Elapsed Time:	19:52

Avg Pace:	8:14 min/mi
Avg Moving Pace:	8:14 min/mi
Best Pace:	5:53 min/mi

Sprint intervals:

Distance:	0.24 mi
Time:	1:51
Avg Pace:	7:48 min/mi

Time:	1:51
Moving Time:	1:51
Elapsed Time:	1:51

Avg Pace:	7:48 min/mi
Avg Moving Pace:	7:47 min/mi
Best Pace:	4:07 min/mi

Runstreak Day #144 - stop, stretch and start again...

So... firstly... I made it through today's run... woooo hoooooo!!!!

Not least because after yesterday's painful run I felt kinda nervous about running today.  However, I chose a flat route and went with my littlest who rode his bike (which always makes it more fun!).  Plus, I stopped and stretched after each mile which helped as well.

I'm still on leave from work (I am VERY good at not being at work!) and went for my run this afternoon.  Things I've learned about afternoon running?

1.  You will get MUCH hotter than a morning or evening run
2.  You will get MUCH redder than a morning or evening run
3.  Small flies will attempt to land in your mouth as you're huffing and puffing
4.  ... or in your eyes...
5.  ... or in your hair...
6.  ... and you'll find some who've committed 'death by sweat' when you get into the shower later on
7.  Did I mention the sweating?
8.  Oh so much sweating!!
9.  And because it's daylight, you pass people who notice the red face, sweat and flies.  It ain't glam.

Mind you, it's always good to get the 'run after a bad run' out of the way.  It makes me feel dead nervous to go out if there's anything niggly as the thought of getting injured is stuck in the back of my brain.  Which means that surviving this one is a big ol' wooo hooo moment!  Plus, it was just under 8 minutes per mile which was fine an' dandy for me too.

Right... tea.  I need tea!

*dances over to the kettle*

Geeky stats stuff

Distance:	3.02 mi
Time:	24:05
Avg Pace:	7:58 min/mi

Time:	24:05
Moving Time:	24:05
Elapsed Time:	26:07

Avg Pace:	7:58 min/mi
Avg Moving Pace:	7:58 min/mi
Best Pace:	6:32 min/mi

Runstreak Day #143 - The one I didn't enjoy...

... which isn't to say I'm not glad that I went for a run.  I am.  And after a very VERY hectic few days, getting home and doing something familiar and normal was nice.  But my left hip was really painful.

Not entirely sure what I've done.  Could be all the driving I did to get from Notts to Gloucestershire... could be too much walking (my hip often goes a bit weird if I've walked a long way)... could have been sleeping awkwardly in a 'not my bed' bed.  Don't know.  Either way it was very uncomfortable and it was a really stoppy starty run.

Still, I ran with my littlest who has a new bike and he enjoyed himself.  Racing along happily while every so often I'm going 'no, no, I think I need to stop' and hobbling to a stop.  Pathetic!  I plan on doing pretty much nothing this evening and then going for a run on the flat tomorrow.  Lots of hills in the last few days and I think that's probably helped break me as well!

I need tea!

Geeky stats stuff

Distance:	3.25 mi
Time:	26:33
Avg Pace:	8:11 min/mi

Time:	26:33
Moving Time:	26:33
Elapsed Time:	35:45

Avg Pace:	8:11 min/mi
Avg Moving Pace:	8:11 min/mi
Best Pace:	5:53 min/mi

Runstreak Day #142 - stop start hilly sunny

Still in Gloucestershire... still doing those Cotswold hills and wearing myself out generally!

It's funny, I used to ride my bike around these lanes... and very very occasionally walk them... and always think I'd walked or ridden really far.  Turns out it wasn't that far at all!

Even though it's not really that far - from the village where I grew up to the nearby town and back - it was kinda stop-starty today.  Just wasn't 100% feeling it.  I ran without music, listening to the birds in the hedgerows, saying hello to the horses in the fields, hearing the cows and sheep from the fields along the lanes... and the sun was shining.  I just wasn't feeling it.  Strange how that happens.

That said, there was a moment where I sat on a bench at the top of a hill before going back down and up again into the village where I thought 'y'know what, this is really nice'.  And sometimes stopping and starting isn't such a bad thing after all!

Geeky stats stuff

Distance:	4.58 mi
Time:	38:46
Avg Pace:	8:28 min/mi

Time:	38:46
Moving Time:	38:46
Elapsed Time:	44:31

Avg Pace:	8:28 min/mi
Avg Moving Pace:	8:28 min/mi
Best Pace:	6:53 min/mi

Runstreak Day #141 - Easter running bunny

Yum, yum, the Easter Running Bunny has visited and delivered me a yummy 4.6 mile run in the Cotswolds!

How did he know that was exactly what I fancied?

Am staying with my mother in Gloucestershire for a few days... and have never run around the area where I grew up before.  Other than running up and down the hills and woods when I was a kid, but that's different!  Anyway, I did my first run around the hills in this area this morning and it was ace.  Bloomin' cold out and my hands have only just defrosted, but it was lovely.  Funny how much smaller everything seems when you've grown up too.  The distance from the village to the nearby town is suddenly 'only' two and a half miles, rather than feeling like forever away when I was little.  The lanes seem smaller.  The pathways smaller.

The hills, however... are NOT smaller.  Why, when someone was busy shrinking everything else, did they not think to shrink the Cotswolds just a teensy bit?!  It's not too much to ask, is it?  :o)

Anyway, it's not yet 9:30, I'm not having any Easter Eggs, my halo has been polished and my happy dancing perfected...

Tea anyone?

*slurps cuppa gratefully*

Geeky stats stuff

Distance:	4.60 mi
Time:	39:40
Avg Pace:	8:38 min/mi

Time:	39:40
Moving Time:	39:41
Elapsed Time:	42:33

Avg Pace:	8:38 min/mi
Avg Moving Pace:	8:38 min/mi
Best Pace:	6:17 min/mi

Runstreak Day #140 - three for the price of one...

140th day of running... tick!!

Today's run was actually three runs - get me! All of them centre around going to do parkrun, which if anyone remembers, I find a complete and utter brain melt. I just get SO nervous about it - and did again today. Awake at five. Enjoying the laxative benefits of parkrunning by about 5:05... and generally winding myself up into a frenzy about it.

So, I ended up doing three runs. The first involved running to Colwick parkrun (to try to calm down my nerves)... then I ran at Colwick with a friend who is a complete and utter superstar and ran with me, stopping me from having my normal adrenalin-fueled panic about it all... and then I ran home from the parkrun up a ridiculously steep (14.5% gradient) hill. 8 miles of running today!

It really helped to run with someone else. I ran at a relaxed pace, got to chat and in the waiting around at the start bit and the bit where everyone's too tightly bunched together (and my brain screeches 'RUN AWAY!!!') it was so nice to be distracted from it by having someone else there. I think before I've ended up getting caught up with the 'serious runners', finishing with not very many other people and then wandering off on my ownsome - and it hasn't felt at all sociable. I've finally had a good parkrun experience! YAY!!

And it's not even time for elevensies.

I believe I will be wearing my smug pants for the rest of the day! 

Geeky stats stuff

Run 1

Distance:	2.45 mi
Time:	20:28
Avg Pace:	8:20 min/mi

Time:	20:28
Moving Time:	20:27
Elapsed Time:	21:16

Avg Pace:	8:20 min/mi
Avg Moving Pace:	8:20 min/mi
Best Pace:	5:45 min/mi

Run 2

Distance:	3.15 mi
Time:	31:20
Avg Pace:	9:57 min/mi

Time:	31:20
Moving Time:	30:48
Elapsed Time:	31:20

Avg Pace:	9:57 min/mi
Avg Moving Pace:	9:47 min/mi
Best Pace:	7:23 min/mi

Run 3

Distance:	2.12 mi
Time:	19:37
Avg Pace:	9:15 min/mi

Time:	19:37
Moving Time:	19:35
Elapsed Time:	21:07

Avg Pace:	9:15 min/mi
Avg Moving Pace:	9:14 min/mi
Best Pace:	7:12 min/mi

Runstreak Day #139 - shorts day!

YAY!!! I got my legs out!! I actually did! I haven't worn shorts in... ooooooh... dunno... 20 years?! But today, my leggies came out and went running! Half of Nottingham has now been blinded by the intensely reflective properties of my whiter than white legs... but who cares! I wore shorts!!

Even though my husband laughed at me and said I looked like a 1970s runner I took my biggest deepest big brave girl breath and got out there. And it was ace! Properly liberating! Happy skippety leggies!!

So, my Nike Tempo shorts review... the small size was fine... but I had to adjust the tie thingy as I ran as they started to fall down (have discovered I have a new skill - I am able to tie a bow and maintain an 8 minute mile pace!). No chafing... not too flappy... cooler than a cool thing. Plus, they match my trainers! What's not to like? 

5k of sunshiningly happy running on Day 139 of my runstreak. Blue skies, fluffy clouds and freedom. Yum, yum!

I WORE SHORTS!!! YEAH BABY!!!!! 

*happy twirly dancing over to the kettle*

Geeky stats stuff

Distance:	3.33 mi
Time:	27:09
Avg Pace:	8:10 min/mi

Time:	27:09
Moving Time:	27:09
Elapsed Time:	27:09

Avg Pace:	8:10 min/mi
Avg Moving Pace:	8:10 min/mi
Best Pace:	7:30 min/mi

Runstreak Day #138 - two attempts, one run...

It took two goes to get my run done this morning.  Both attempts were with my children.

The first attempt with my son.  We got approximately 50 yards down a track when he came off his bike.  His brake had sheared off and he'd gone over the handlebars.  One dirty tear-stained face later, we were home, he was dusted down.  And I attempted to go again.  This time with my daughter.  Far more successful... no injuries... but she does love to stop and tell me she's tired every five minutes!!

This morning's route was another fairly flat one - still trying not to strain my twingy left knee any more than I have to! - and I ran where I first started with Couch to 5k just over a year ago.  It's a really quiet route and the only people out there are bird spotters.  I chose it initially because no-one would see my pitiful efforts at running.  Today I chose it for another reason - it's been months since I've been there.

But, I thought about the version of me who started running there just over a year ago.  I can see that my pace then was 14:52 minutes per mile.  Today it was 7:58 minutes per mile.  I might be 7 minutes per mile faster (7 minutes faster?!?!?!!  That's insane!), but I tell you what, I am SO glad that version of me persisted.  Even though she was ashamed to be seen by anyone.  Even though she thought she'd die as her lungs burned with the effort of running at all.  And she cursed herself for being so unfit, so fat, so hopeless at it all.  But kept on with it anyway.  I'd love to give that version of me a massive hug and thank her for not giving in.

Sometimes it takes more than one attempt to get to do what you need to do.  Sometimes it takes a LOT more than one attempt.  But where running's concerned, it's definitely worth it.

Geeky stats stuff

Distance:	3.37 mi
Time:	26:48
Avg Pace:	7:58 min/mi

Time:	26:48
Moving Time:	26:48
Elapsed Time:	32:20

Avg Pace:	7:58 min/mi
Avg Moving Pace:	7:58 min/mi
Best Pace:	6:23 min/mi

Runstreak Day #137 - sparkly morning runs - hooray!

Oh what a be-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-eautiful morning!!!  Sparkly and delicious.  A real 'hooray for being out there and doing something' day.  Especially when that day involves going for a run around the lake and it's all quiet and gorgeous and you feel glad to be alive.  Yeah, that day.

I decided to go for another shortish run today because my lower back, hip and knee haven't been feeling great - my left knee especially shouts at me if I run downhill at the moment - so I chose a flat route and just took it steady.  It felt really good (apart from a couple of slightly downhill twingy moments) and with my daughter riding her bike with me, it was lovely.  I can't believe I'm finally at the point where, even though I'll end up sweating and will get tired, the first part of a run just feels normal and not a big 'oh good grief I think I may need to stop any moment' kinda thing.

For the second day running I ran without music.  It was mainly because I was running with my daughter (am not that anti-social as to block her out with music) but I'd have run without music anyway.  I quite like listening to the rhythm of my feet and hearing my breathing - no matter how puffy and panty that might be.  There's something weirdly soothing about it rather than attempting to block everything out with sound.

Will try a longer run tomorrow and see how my knee holds up!

Geeky stats stuff

Distance:	2.71 mi
Time:	22:56
Avg Pace:	8:27 min/mi

Time:	22:56
Moving Time:	22:56
Elapsed Time:	22:56

Avg Pace:	8:27 min/mi
Avg Moving Pace:	8:27 min/mi
Best Pace:	6:14 min/mi

Runstreak Day #136 - sparkly cold early morning run...

*wearing smug running pants*

I LOVE it when I've done my run before 7:30 in a morning. I get to wear my smug pants for the rest of the day... and I know that I can put my feet up in the evening and not have to do my 7:30 - 8:30 mental battle where I talk myself into going for a run even though I'd rather sit about drinking tea.

So... runstreak day 136 is already done - wooo hooo! Was a little bit nervous about going as my left hip and knee were twingy yesterday, so it was probably a good thing that I only had time for 2.25 miles this morning, squeezing in a run before my husband went to work at 7:30. Which basically meant my brain went into auto-running mode and went 'Must. Get. Up. Early. And. Run. Before. He. Goes'. So I did. 

And today I decided to run without music and it was kinda nice. The birds were happily twittering, there was pretty much no traffic, I got smiles from the very few dog walkers I saw out and even managed to wave at a cyclist who smiled at me too. The downside was that it was bloomin' freezing out there and I didn't have any earbuds to keep the cold wind from going in my earholes!! Sparkly and pretty... but by the time I got home, my hands were blue with cold and my ears ached.

*happy dances to warm up*

Right. Definitely time for a cuppa cha!

Anyone else want a cuppa while I'm at it? 

Geeky stats stuff

Distance:	2.23 mi
Time:	18:23
Avg Pace:	8:15 min/mi

Time:	18:23
Moving Time:	18:23
Elapsed Time:	18:23

Avg Pace:	8:15 min/mi
Avg Moving Pace:	8:16 min/mi
Best Pace:	6:47 min/mi

Runstreak Day #135 - stop-starty speedy sweaty... and... collapse...

Cooer, hearing all those marathon stories from yesterday has been fabulous. It's such an achievement - I wonder how many miles everyone clocked up if we added together all those 26.2s? It makes my little 3.5 miles this morning seem paltry, but I did carry with me the thoughts of all of those amazing feats of speed / endurance / sheer bloody-minded determination with me as I ran this morning and it sure got my legs going.

Sooooo... I got out there and did my 135th day of running. And... for the first time ever managed to get under 8 minute miles the whole way around. In fact, my pace was 7:39 mins / mile - which was pretty stop-starty because I ran with my daughter who came with me on her bike. Needless to say, I am a sweaty blob of tiredness now! Won't be doing that again in a hurry!!! Cannot believe that those people who were getting their marathons done in less than 3 and a half hours were maintaining that over 26.2 miles. Un-be-flippin-lievable!!!

Oh, and hooray for being on leave. Most people want to put their feet up when they're on leave. I want to put my trainers on my feet and get out there! 

One vat of tea slurped... and another one brewing...

Because I'm worth it  

Geeky stats stuff

Distance:	3.52 mi
Time:	26:56
Avg Pace:	7:39 min/mi

Time:	26:56
Moving Time:	26:54
Elapsed Time:	49:47

Avg Pace:	7:39 min/mi
Avg Moving Pace:	7:38 min/mi
Best Pace:	5:41 min/mi

Runstreak Day #134 - and the missing 0.01

Day 134 and I ran just under a quarter of a marathon!!! 

Yeah, okay, that doesn't sound too brilliant, does it! Not when you think of all those thousands and thousands of people slogging their way around London right now. But some runs are a slog no matter the distance, aren't they!

I had in my mind this morning the stories I've heard of people en route to their marathons, giving myself a stern talking to when I felt like giving up and walking. There was a bit of a headwind kicking about and I was sweltering. Not a nice combination and I just couldn't get it together. By the time I got home, I'd run 6.19 miles. And the thought of even another step towards the 6.2 mile / 10k mark made me go 'nah, don't think so'. So, I didn't. Because the sooner I let go of today's crappy run, the happier my brain and legs will be. 

In less than half an hour one of the people I know is predicted to finish. And they won't be about to give up that last .01, I'm sure of that!!

Right... kettle on... feet up... I declare it 'watching the results coming in' o'clock... 

*happy dances into kitchen*

Geeky stats stuff

Distance:	6.19 mi
Time:	53:59
Avg Pace:	8:44 min/mi

Time:	53:59
Moving Time:	54:00
Elapsed Time:	59:04

Avg Pace:	8:44 min/mi
Avg Moving Pace:	8:44 min/mi
Best Pace:	7:00 min/mi

Runstreak Day #133 - tired legs and marathons

I only ran 5k today. And that was enough. My legs were tired after running up and down silly hills yesterday. And it made me think... all those marathon-runners... whether that's tomorrow's VLM or all the other marathons that have been entered and conquered... marathon runners are absolutely bloody phenomenal!! I thought about the ones running in London tomorrow all as I ran this evening... all nervously preparing for the big day.  It's huge, isn't it!

Then again, we all run our own little marathons, don't we? Whether that's the juggle to squeeze in full-time work, childcare and running. Or the huge leap from running for 5 minutes to running for 20 which comes with Couch to 5k. Or completing your first parkrun. Or running with a buggy when you'd rather be home with a cuppa. Or getting back into running after an injury. Or running during pregnancy. Or overcoming body confidence issues and getting out there. Or just realising through running that you are capable of more than you ever believed you could be.

So, I 'only' ran 5k. But I managed 2 miles in 15:46 and am starting to get sub-8 minute miles for the majority of my run which is verging on the miraculous for me.

Go, run your marathons tomorrow. Whether that's the full 26.2 or your own personal marathon!

Time for a happy dance? Why yes indeedy...

*happy dances* 

Geeky stats stuff

Distance:	3.16 mi
Time:	25:45
Avg Pace:	8:09 min/mi

Time:	25:45
Moving Time:	25:44
Elapsed Time:	26:09

Avg Pace:	8:09 min/mi
Avg Moving Pace:	8:09 min/mi
Best Pace:	6:41 min/mi