It must be Winter . . .

. . . as today was the first time this year I have put away the shorts and gone for something longer. It was about 6 degrees C, so wore my Ronhill Tracksters for the first time. They’re kind of lightweight, slightly stretchy, running legging things. Bought them on Ebay for tuppance ha’penny a few months back. (I guess it’s like coal, winter running gear is cheaper in the summer?).

Decent run, but felt a bit short on energy as I’ve not been running as much as I should these last couple of weeks due to various niggling pains. Ok today though, did 6.97 km in 53m 29s with no discomfort from calf, hamstring or knee. 383m of ascent, including Golden Cap which for the first time I nearly made it all the way to the top before I had to walk. So have to be pleased with that, even though it was probably because I took it so easy on the way up. Heart rate did reach 180bpm when I gave up, not sure that’s healthy. Average of 7m 40s per km was pretty abysmal, but it was seriously muddy in places, so quite a few walky bits.

Still painting in Honiton this week (I’m not a professional so it takes me twice as long), so not sure when I’ll get out again. Will definitely make an effort to get out for something, somewhere mid-week, followed by a longer run at the weekend.

Recovery Run

Must have been trying pretty hard last Sunday, as it’s taken all week to recover. Didn’t bother with the mid-week run as I was still pretty sore in the calves and ankles, particularly my right calf which was still a bit tender this morning.

Decided to go for a short run anyway over my normal ‘short’ training run course. Quickly remembered why I decided to take a different route over the winter months as it was a bit of a mudfest. Reduced to walking round the worst bits at least three times. (That’s each bit once, not the same bit three times . . . ) Even with the enforced breaks, still found it hard work. Temperature was about 8 degrees C, but felt a lot less when I turned into the wind. I think when it gets below 5 degrees I’ll ditch the shorts and go with the Ronhill Tracksters that I picked up on Ebay.

In an effort to get really fit over the winter, decided to take on the one hundred push-ups challenge. Day one was last Monday, but after doing the initial test and just squeaking into the top set of three for Day 1, I completed the task but strained everything to the point of not being able to do push-ups again until today! So I’m going to re-start next Monday with the medium level set. At some point hope to do the sit-ups and squats challenges too.

Meanwhile, the official Boscombe 10k results are out and I came 247th out of 436. Dang, still below halfway.