Monday, June 27, 2005
Steady on there...
27/06/2005 1:30 pm
Workout Type: Strength - Tempo
Course: Loretto
Distance: 7.42
Time: 31:40
Speed: 4:16 min/km
Average HR: 158
With the rain coming down as I left the house, I planned to have a matyr's run today (where you go out in the worst possible conditions just to demonstrate how committed you are to your running). Unfortunately, the skies cleared, and most of the run was done in brilliant sunshine (a change from the frosty conditions at home).
However, like a recovering alcoholic falling off the wagon, my goal of keeping the pace easy (publicly declared as recently as yesterday) came a cropper today. Seeking to work through the many impasses in my life at the moment, I ran as my body wanted to, and it wanted to go fast. Nothing silly - certainly not approaching race pace over any distance, but 6.7 kms at 4.11/km (plus a cool down lap) was certainly faster than I've been for a while. I promise I won't do this again (for another week, anyway), and although my average heart rate was still a respectable 158, this is not the best sort of running I can be doing at the moment, and 45 miutes at 5 min/km would have been more sensible.
In the plus side, I felt fantastic and ran very easily and comfortably. Splashing through the puddles, going with the flow on the downhills, cruising round in my own little world - that's what it's all about. With my mind so often diverted towards times and goals, I sometimes lose track of the fact that the main reason I run is because I love it - the best possible reason for doing anything.
Louis, on the other hand, has decided that focusing solely on running may not be his calling, if his new favourite book is anything to go by:
