Week 4 and a grim run to finish

Just 6.8 miles today to end an easy week in training.  But conditions were grim.  Heavy rain yesterday afternoon and overnight has turned the ground to deep mud.  Combine that with winds gusting to 40 mph, torrential sleety downpours and temperatures hovering around 4C (and feeling like -2C) and grim just about covers it.  In places the mud was so slippy it was impossible to run and stay upright.  Needless to say there was no one out, not even a dog walker.

Mud, deep, slippy mud!

Unlike last week I was actually warm enough on this week's run.  Long sleeve merino top, merino t-shirt, full waterproof jacket with hood, long trousers, 2 buffs (one as hat, one as scarf) and two pair gloves (one inside the other) just about did it without overheating.  Just some very muddy trainers to wash and dry.

This week's totals:

18.34 miles

226 m elevation

LeJog: 89.18 miles

Parkrun PB #2

2nd Parkrun PB of the year 😊.  Given that this week was a lighter week on the marathon training front (no extra miles in the programme for after parkrun today and a short "long run" tomorrow) and the good pace I'd set running on Thursday I decided to go for a PB.  I also decided I was going to try not looking a my watch and worrying if I was going too fast, but to run by how I felt.  

The course was a bit drier than last week and the weather was a lot warmer.  The combination of all these factors meant I took 58 secs off my PB for this course.  Naturally I've given myself a star sticker in the training diary for this.

Another thing I noticed about today's parkrun was there were 153 female runners in the field of 292 - which means 52% of the participants were female.  Wonder how many of the 1st time women were there because of Jasmine Paris winning this year's spine race?

Running on the Level

Found myself running in Cheltenham today and was surprised at how much difference running on the level, rather than up a Cotswold hill, makes.  A nice 4 miles around the lakes in Pittville Park.

In the Cotswold's tempo effort averages at around 09:22 a mile.  In Cheltenham that came down to 08:31.  Now if only I could run that at Parkrun on Saturday - maybe when the course dries out a bit I might get close.

LeJog: Leaving Cornwall

Week 3

Week 3 of training for the Stratford Marathon at the end of April.  A very cold 10 miles to end the week.  Painfully cold hands and although I thought the rest of me was ok it took a couple of hours to properly warm up.

Snowdrops have appeared and a neighbour has just asked me if it's going to snow next week!

This week's totals:
Distance:  26.39
Elevation gained:  324m

LeJog: 70.84 miles

Parkrun in the rain

It was very definitely wet for today's parkrun.  Big puddles in the car park, wet stuff dripping out of the sky, warnings from the run director in the briefing to take care as the course was slippy in places.  Yet Garmin's weather feature on the run says it was sunny!

The actual weather - if this is sunny what is misty and raining like?

Nice, steady paced run with sprint finish put me 3rd in my age group.  269 participants this morning - pretty good considering the weather.

Chilly

A chilly 1C for tonight's run.  Not quite a frosty badge from Garmin but cold enough to get to the fingers.  Nothing of course compared to the conditions on the Spine Race. 

50 Miles

No, not all in one go! But 50 miles completed since the 1st of January.  Which means I've reached Bodmin in this year's virtual run from Lands End to John O'Groats.  

I've set up a little spreadsheet to calculate an expected date to reach John O'Groats based on the average distance run each day.  It's just for amusement but it's currently saying I'll be in John O'Groats on 1 September.  Of course this won't last, it's only a matter of time before I miss a training run because of bad weather or injury and slip behind the target.  For now I'll keep enjoying the stickers I'm getting.

Week 2

A heavily overcast and blustery 8 miles to end the week.  

15 weeks to the Stratford Marathon so entry now submitted before it fills up.

Totals for the week: 21.9 miles, elevation gained 272m.

LeJog - 44.4 miles (between Redruth and Bodmin)  or 5% of the way to John o'Groats 

Running Lesson #2

When picking socks out in the dark for running after work it's a good idea to check that you have both a left and a right foot 😟 

Week 1

Finished the first week of January with an easy 8 miles.  Quite warm in the sunshine, definitely didn't need a t-shirt over the long sleeved top.  

Totals for the week:  25.23 miles (includes New Year's eve's run), elevation gained 290m. 

LeJog - 22.55 miles

16 weeks to the Stratford Marathon

Parkrun PB

Now that there's a much closer Parkrun I plan on going more often.  As each Parkrun course is different you need to set a PB for each time you attend a new course - and you don't get a PB for the first event.  This week I took 11 secs on last week's time (admittedly I didn't try too hard last week as you need to know the course to try a PB) finishing in 29:08.  Not spectacularly fast but still pleasing and it's fun to ring the bell.

If anything the course was wetter this week than last, even though we've not had any rain, with a lot more mud stuck to the shoes at the end.  It was also much colder - long sleeve t-shirt, short sleeve t-shirt, hat, gloves and longs cold.

Followed up later in the day with a short 2.5 mile easy run to make the planned 5 miles for the day.

1%

With today's 4.75 mile tempo run I've completed 1% of this year's LeJog challenge.  Always good to get the zero out of the way.

Happy New Year

First run of 2019, an easy 4 miles to open this year's LeJog challenge.  And Garmin gave me a badge 😀

Happy New Year