Weekend Weather

It was fairly miserable outside on Saturday. I had known that in advance but it just looked worse than anticipated. I sat there on the sofa, wasting time on the computer, trying to gather enough resolve to head out, but eventually I realised that I have grown old and soft and the treadmill right there beside me was beckoning instead.

Running on a treadmill is similar to banging yourself over the head with a hammer, except a lot less fun, I imagine. After about 2 minutes I was already staring at the clock, willing it to go forward. I managed to survive with the help of a podcast, but once that was over so was my run.

When I stepped off the treadmill I felt somewhat disorientated and almost dizzy, which was weird. I wouldn't think that running on a treadmill would affect your balance like that but thankfully I managed to get into the shower without keeling over. Because it had been such a short run I had vague ideas of doing a second one later in the day but then I felt really tired, not helped by the Christmas shopping, so I left it at that.

Sunday was much better. The storm had abated and it looked positively inviting. I suppose the easy Saturday helped to have the legs in a fresher state than usual, and I headed out for a long run. I had done a 19 miler before Dublin from Bray via Kilternan and gotten the idea of adding a loop around Leopardstown racecourse, which is exactly what I did today. Spookily it worked out as exactly 20 miles on the dot right at our gate, so I guess I now have a proper long run loop. It's rather hilly, which is exactly what a long run route should be, and of course there are still plenty of options to tweak it a bit if I ever feel the need to add some extra distance.

When the hamstrings started to feel tired after about 12 miles I expected a bit of a slog on the way home but in actual fact they held up really well and I was still in pretty good shape when I got back home, pleasantly tired as they would say. That's good, it looks like my endurance is starting to come back, even if the pace is still maybe 30 seconds per mile slower than what my mind still thinks it should be at.

12 Dec

10.23 miles, 1:27:16, 8:31 pace, HR 146

13 Dec

10.23 miles, 1:26:22, 8:26 pace, HR 144

14 Dec

7.22 miles, 1:02:00, 8:35 pace, HR 135

15 Dec

5.5 miles, 50:00, 9:05 pace, HR 131

   treadmill

16 Dec

20 miles, 2:51:40, 8:34 pace, HR 141