I hate to admit it but I think I might actually be starting to enjoy running. Having spent my youth detesting anything longer than the 200m sprint I have always found it a struggle to run for any period of time/long distance. Since re-doing the couch to 5k programme this year though I am finding that I quite like hitting the road and am even making the effort to head out at 5:30am here in Basel in an effort to make sure I stick to my training schedule but avoid the heat of the day.
This morning’s runcoach scheduled session was an easy warm-up and drills followed by 2 reps of 10 mins @ 7:19 pace and 10 mins @7:09 pace. I was really pleased with myself when I managed to complete the drills and a short warm-down jog without stopping to walk at all. I have been sneaking in a few 30-60 second walk breaks in my runs but am aiming to do tomorrow’s easy 4-5km @7:19 pace without any breaks at all. I think if I can do this I’ll be well on the way to improving my fitness, stamina and ultimately my race time.
It’s a good job that I am starting to enjoy my running as I have now signed up for 7 more races, so I’m going to have to keep training to make sure I can complete them all (and of course the more I race the more likely people are to donate to the 2 charities that I am fundraising for).
So what have I got in the pipeline?
7th September 2013 – Women’s Running 10k, London
22nd September 2013 – Teach First 10k, London
6th October 2013 – Standalone 10k, Letchworth
The “Muddy Double” back to back trail runs
2nd November 2013 – Helvellyn 15km Trail Challenge &
3rd November 2013 – Ullswater 14km Trail Challenge
6th April 2014 – Zurich City Run 10k
26th May 2014 – BUPA 10,000, London
There you have it, I am well on the way to becoming a running addict. I’m also going to start doing some parkruns on a Saturday morning, first on the list is St Albans on 10th August. I’m hoping they’ll be a good way to encourage (force) me to run rather than run/walk and to start to increase my pace so that I can start to catch The Boyf!