Sunday 1 August 2010

We're Off Again

Tomorrow we'll be piling into the car with bags of stuff and driving a few hundred miles to Shropshire. We're staying in a big house with most of Pete's family for a week. We went to the same town last year, and there are some really nice walks and a lot of natural beauty around there. I did a bit of running last year, and I'm hoping to do a bit more this time.

I usually run with my Jog Scotland group on Wednesday, but today I joined them for an 8am Sunday run. Most Sundays I just don't make it out of bed in time - not because of my crazy fun-packed Saturday night partying, but because I'm getting old and tired and I need more sleep. We ran over the Forth Road Bridge, which I haven't done for a while. It used to be one of my favourite routes because, although it's quite a steep up-and-down, my mind always thought it was flat, and was able to convince my legs of that. Weird, I know.

These days I know exactly how hilly it is. It was a nice sociable run though, as I chatted to a couple of different people. I did the first 3 miles quite fast, as I was keeping up with some faster women. Then most of the group continued for a longer run, while I and another runner turned back. I slowed down a bit to her pace, but it wasn't much slower than I would've gone on my own. We did another 3 miles, and then she got to her car, so I added on another 3 miles home. I sped up a little bit again for the last part.

Overall it was 9.4 miles at an average of 9.14 m/m pace. Not at all bad, and on track for a close-to-2-hour half marathon, which is my next race goal. Then we went off to the pool with the kids for a swim, and I realised how knackered my legs felt.

I'll be aiming to stick as closely as I can to my usual schedule of running next week. That's what I said before we went camping though, and it was a major fail, so let's hope I can do better this time...















In Shropshire last year

7 comments:

  1. Have fun and hopefull we'll be able to catch up when you get back!

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  2. Have a lovely holiday. How nice is it that your kids get to spend lots of time with all their rellies?!!

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  3. Good luck with your good running intentions and have a great time!

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  4. Do you have your next half picked out yet? I think you have 2 hrs in the bag.

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  5. Thanks Scott! Have one coming up in September.

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  6. You're back! Hope you had a wonderful refreshing holiday with plenty of good running/training. If you're training at 9.14 pace you should just about break the two hour mark for the ½ marathon when the adrenalin kicks in. try the 1-1-1 plan!

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