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It felt a bit weird this morning. I'd pretty much been awake since quarter past four when Samster woke us up, so it felt like I'd been awake for ages when I hit the road at six fifteen. The sun was well established in the sky, and there seemed to be more people around than usual at that time in the morning - all of which lent it an air of being much later than it actually was!
Anyway. Ran my "usual" route, looping around South Whitwick in a clockwise direction - see the map and stats attached. Not the usual geodistance.com map today, I've clipped a screenshot from the Nokia app I've been using. Gives all manner of interesting statistics, and plots the route accurately and easily with GPS. Pretty groovy.
Felt good this morning too; quick and good. I was actaully enjoying the run this morning, running quicker than previously, and it just seemed easier. I'm sure the next one won't, however!
Saw some of the London marathon on the telly yesterday. Kind of appeals. No firm commitment for anything though! Build up plenty of miles before even thinking such things, I think!
Music: Black Label Society
Couldn't believe it when my alarm went off this morning. I think the first words out of my mouth this morning were "you're joking", directed at my chirping phone. Still, it wasn't joking (it's sense of humour seems to be limited to dropping the wifi signal mid browse) and I had to get up and run. Which I did, of course.
Rewarded with another glorious morning. The sun had already established it's watch in the sky when I left the house at 0615, and it was bright, crisp and clear. I think a warm day looms. Did the loop over Red Hill, with Church Lane tacked on the end.
It's funny how your mind works during a run. Well, my mind, anyway. I was feeling good at one point, and thought "yeah, this is great, I might tack on another half mile at the end, just for fun". Thirty seconds later I had flipped entirely to the point of "I might stop and text Sarah to ask her exactly why I am out doing this to myself?". Mental fortitude won out, and I carried on, and I didn't go the usual route home, although whether adding the Church Lane bit on takes me any further needs investigating (edit: I've just checked and it's an extra quarter mile).
Still, a pleasant enough run on a glorious Friday morning. Bring on the weekend!
Music: Black Sabbath
Glorious out this morning. Lovely light as the sun came up, bathing the village in warm amberness. Pretty chilly too though, there was frost on some of the cars, and it didn't feel warm, despite the fact that I was out running!
I was indeed out running though, and the best thing I saw wasn't the sunrise, nor was it home when I arrived back! It was a plane cutting through the clear blue sky, vapour trail in its wake; the herald of the return of air travel, and hopefully us departing on time for our impending holiday!
Felt like a bit of a slog this morning at times, but felt good by equal measure at others, so I'll put it down as a win for the morning. Ran down to North Street (paused very briefly to take a picture of a plane in the sky, oh, and the glorious light), and then headed down by the church and along the old railway line, twice round the lake and then home across the field, past the cemetary and the park.
Twenty five minutes, just less than three miles again. No walking, all running. Well, jogging. Still, feeling good. Knee pain seems to be a thing of the past thanks to the stretching and the building up of the running.
So, top morning on several levels. Hurrah!
Music: Slipknot
Was not feeling the love this morning. Brief dalliance with the snooze button, and the sound of raindrops on the skylight were pretty demotivating, but it wasn't raining heavily and I wasn't properly asleep, so dragged myself out.
Good run, a smidgen under three miles, in twenty five minutes. Not fast, but good enough. No walking, all running, which was nice. Knees felt good, body felt good. The groundwork from the past few weeks seems to have paid off!
Went exploring up Hall Lane, and down to Silver Street that way - good to go somewhere new again! Mapped out a few new little routes to explore over the next few weeks too.
Music: Clutch
Yeah, it's Friday! Hurrah!
Two and a half miles this morning, including slogging up Loughborough Road - which was an absolute killer. Still, got to come down Cademan Street, which kinda made up for it. Oh to live somewhere flat! Meh, perhaps not. Mind you, when I do find a flat bit it does feel good!
No niggles this morning, no knee pain, no problems at all. Other than getting out of bed, but that's unlikely to go away any time soon.
Oh, by the way - I passed my blue belt in Wado Ryu karate last night. Which is nice.
Bring on the weekend!
Music: Stone Temple Pilots
Some mornings it all comes together. It wasn't the brightest morning, but it was dry; it wasn't the lightest morning, but it was by no means dark. The snooze button tempted me, but I just thought about how pissed off I'd be at myself if I didn't get up, and off I went.
Okay, so I'm still not blasting out the mileage, but this morning I felt good, felt strong; I'm almost tempted to say fast! I definitely picked up the pace a bit on a couple of occasions, and it felt good. That's despite another weights session last night.
Nothing spectacular in terms of route - pretty standard loop around the South end of the village, and home. Just realised it's the same route as Friday, but the opposite way around. Three minutes on, one off, five on, one off, and repeat. No problems, no niggles, no exhaustion. So onwards we power. Two down this week, Friday morning to go, and then I'll ratchet up the scheme again.
Music: Atreyu
Not an easy one this morning. Had a great weekend, with a night out in Shepshed on Sat night and then Big Jon's stand-up comedy debut last night in Birmingham. Throw in my return to weight training yesterday too (with a PB in OHP @ 72.5 kg, and a return to squats at the same weight) and some DOMS as a result, and it was never destined to be easy.
Anyway, dragged myself out of bed this morning. Cool, but bright, and off I went. Simple route (see map), but upped the routine again: 3 mins running, 1 min walking, 5 mins running, 1 min walking - repeated twice (with a bit extra on the end to get me home). So, the good news: feeling strong, no knee pain, enjoyed the run. Bad news? Quads of fire! That's the squats' legacy from yesterday.
Didn't sleep well last night; looking forward to an early one tonight.
Music: BRMC
Another glorious morning. Tough dragging myself out of bed, but once I was out of the house and moving it was lovely. Just over two and a half miles, two minutes running married with thirty seconds of blissful relief walking. Have to change that up again for next week! The good news from today was the complete lack of any niggle in either knee, before, during or after the run. Happy days!
Did the road circuit of South Whitwick: through the village centre, along Silver Street, along the bridleway by the bypass (I was hoping to see some rabbits, but I guess it's a bit early in the year for that. I saw a fox last time I was out though, don't think I mentioned that) and then back home along Brooks Lane. Quite pleasing, and there's scope to lengthen that route up into Swannington as desired!
It's Friday, and it's shorts weather. It's two and a half weeks until we go on holiday, and the world is good.
Music: Pendulum
Back to early morning running then, what with being back at work. Ah, the joy of dragging myself from my nice warm bed in the gray morning light, the odd spot of rain rapping on the bedroom skylight. Remind me why I do it, again? Ah yes, keeping fit. Damn!
New headphones though - over ear sports "not drop out of your ear every fifty paces" headphones. Which worked nicely, thank you very much, piping the Black Stone Cherry motivation through at a quality sound level, and most importantly, not popping out of my ears.
Another hilly run today - up Cademan Street, and then taking it up to eleven by adding in King Richard's Hill. Made for some decent downhill running on the way home, mind you! Started to spot with rain on the way home, but it was almost refreshing.
Hot shower, scrambled eggs on toast, and a mug of coffee... bring on the day!
Music: Black Stone Cherry
Another day off work, so another mid-morning run in the sunshine. Sunshine and a strong breeze, mind you. Pleasant though, rather than running in the early morning dark and drizzle (oh, I'm looking forward to getting up on Wednesday morning, really I am).
Week three of the plan, and it's now 2 mins running, 30s walking. Man, those 30s go by quickly! Still, all good. New route this morning, somewhere I've never been before - Foan Hill, between Church Lane and Spring Lane, at Swannington. It's a hill. Oh yes, it's a hill!
Spring Lane's a nightmare too: long, straight and uphill. You can see it stretching out in front of you for miles...
Anyway, job done.
Music: Rob Zombie
Fantastic morning this morning. Sun shining, reasonable temperature and not too strong a wind. Ideal really. So, trainers on and off we go again - 2 mins on, 1 off for the final time, and now thinking about next week's training schedule. Mindful of not putting too much on my knees, although they felt strong today, so another building block week next week.
Anyway, back to today's run: sweaty and hilly. Up and over Red Hill fom the Talbot Lane end, back past the school, and up Brooks Lane and home. Pretty good going, two and a half miles, just over twenty minutes. Have I said what a nice morning it is?
Still going strong, and it's getting easier.
Music: Buckcherry
Well, I didn't go running yesterday. Day off work and a trip to Twin Lakes meant that I got up late and then didn't have a chance to go out. Which isn't entirely a shame, as it was cold and windy yesterday. Today, on the other hand is glorious and sunny, and pretty warm when you're out of the wind, too. So I knocked the mud off my trainers, and set out.
I was mindful of the knee pain I'd experienced on Monday morning, so dropped back to two mins running, one min walking. That seemed to do the trick, and my right knee was absolutely fine. I was just starting to feel my left one when I got home, but a bit of stretching and another outing on this schedule should be fine.
So, no time pressure and a glorious day. Great combination, and I headed off without a route in mind. I went up past the park, then down by the Church and straight across up the Hockley, which was very pretty in the morning sunshine. Then up Cademan Street again, glutton for punishment that I am, and then - bold decision - out and up to Swannymote Road. Along there, and then back towards Thringstone the back way. Not been along there before (not on foot, anyway), and it's a bugger of a long way! Lovely in the sunshine, but I did wonder if I'd bitten off more than I could chew!
Kept going though (not that there was any option) and was relieved when I got back onto familiar territory at Grace Dieu Road. That just meant I had The Dumps to look forward to...
All good though, great morning out, and a decent distance. Knees feel good, and I enjoyed it.
Music: Lamb of God
Anyway. Ran my "usual" route, looping around South Whitwick in a clockwise direction - see the map and stats attached. Not the usual geodistance.com map today, I've clipped a screenshot from the Nokia app I've been using. Gives all manner of interesting statistics, and plots the route accurately and easily with GPS. Pretty groovy.
