Who’s Counting Calories?

The weather has definitely taken a turn for the better. There is still plenty of room for improvement, but after the storm we’ve had to endure over the last few weeks, a bit of rain with only a little bit of breeze is a massive improvement.

I slept in on both Saturday and Sunday, and left at around 9:30 for both runs. I did notice one drawback of running so late. Due to the fact that I no longer eat anything before running I ended up feeling a bit hungry out on the road. Both times the empty feeling went away after a mile or two, and I felt good for the rest of the run. So far I definitely don’t feel any bad effects from running with an empty stomach, but I haven’t attempted anything longer than 15 miles yet. I’ll see how it goes in the next few weeks, but I think I’m on to something here.

I finished the week with two shorter but faster efforts. I felt quite sluggish initially yesterday, and didn’t think I’d be under 8:00 pace. I was pleasantly surprised to find afterwards that I had actually run faster than on Thursday, which was supposed to be the fastest run of the week but hadn’t quite worked out that way. At one stage the sun even threatened to show her face, but she changed her mind and stayed behind the cloud cover. I did see a beautiful rainbow at one stage, but while being pretty it was also a harbinger of the next rain shower to come. Ah well.

I finished the week with a run around the devil’s elbow, which included that wicked climb out of Ard-na-Sidhe that I also had to endure at the beginning of Friday’s effort. In some ways today was the opposite. Back then I constantly had to remind myself that it was supposed to be a tempo run and speed up. Today I had to remind myself that this was supposed to be a moderate run and had to put the breaks on again and again. I felt really good and didn’t want to spoil the party by slowing down too much, just enough so that the legs wouldn’t wear out, which didn’t quite work. But I guess I’ll take a day like today anytime. There’s nothing wrong with feeling good.

Niamh surprised me with a veritable feast of freshly-pressed juice, scones and a chocolate cake when I came home (eat your heart out, Mike). I completely pigged out on the offerings. I bet I took in double the calories I had just burned off on the road. Ah well. I guess I’ll definitely take a day like today anytime. There’s nothing wrong with feeling good.

Something makes me think I wasn’t the only one who enjoyed the chocolate cake.

16 Dec: 6.25 miles, 48:09. 7:42 pace, avg. HR 159
17 Dec: 8.5 miles, 1:07, 7:52 pace, avg. HR 161

Weekly mileage: 61