Actually, I got away lightly. The past three nights have all been atrocious and I know because the wind and rain outside kept waking me up. On each occasion, however, conditions had improved significantly by the time I stepped out of the door. With the winter solstice now behind us it will slowly get brighter again - thank God for that, right now it's still pitch dark even when I finish my run!
I made sure to take it very easy on Tuesday after the legs had felt like lead on Monday. To be on the safe side I cut the mileage down to 8 but thankfully they felt perfectly fine so I thought it safe to add 5 more in the evening on the treadmill - after I had waited my turn in the queue, that is; the novelty clearly hasn't worn off yet. The only family member not enthralled by the shiny new machine is the cat.
Because Tuesday had been going so well I did 15 again on Wednesday, trying to keep the midweek semi-long run going. The one problem with that is the lack of sleep. In fact, when the alarm went off I first thought there was a mistake because it felt like I had only gone to bed 5 minutes earlier and I felt groggy from still being half asleep even when I started running. I felt pretty good during the first half and a bit tired towards the end but nowhere near what it had been like on Monday. In general, the legs seemed to be fine but the pace was a bit slower than what I would have thought.
Because I felt a bit off on Thursday morning, probably the high mileage taking a bit of a toll, I didn't fancy doing another Kenyan fartlek, so I just ran 10 miles but added a few strides over the last 10 minutes. Once again, the run went well enough but the pace was a bit slower than what I would have thought.
There's two things I don't get about Christmas in this country. One is the refusal to do any physical activity "you're not running on Christmas Day, are you?" Of course I'm running on Christmas Day! I'd be cranky all day otherwise! (they even seem to be surprised that Mo Farah is going to train on Christmas Day - and he's a Muslim!). The other is the compulsion to get drunk. I don't see the connection between a family day and copious amounts of alcohol. Maybe that's what the guy who last week told me that I'm just not Irish was talking about.
Anyway, we won't have a White Christmas but it will be cold enough to feel like winter. Happy Christmas everyone!
- 22 Dec
- am: 8 miles, 1:03:05, 7:52 pace, HR 136
- pm: 5 miles, 39:50, 7:58 pace, HR 137, treadmill
- 23 Dec
- 15 miles, 1:58:39, 7:55 pace, HR 138
- 24 Dec
- 10 miles, 1:20:26, 8:03 pace, HR 136
People being surprised about Farah's training on Christmas Day is ridiculous. Obviously, they have not even a faint clue what does it take to become Mo... Mentality seems a bit better here, so is the weather:) Wishing you all the best on our running holiday!
ReplyDeleteNot cold down here! Usually we're complaining about the heat this time of year, but lovely and mild - mid-20s C as a high :-)
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