Tuesday 17 January 2012

Back on track....Accidentally!

I felt strong getting ready for my run today, so I tried for a 10km Galloway technique run i.e. a Run-Walk-Run that I was previously going to attempt on Thursday.  I was hoping that if I could complete this distance then it would help me get back up to some resemblance of my fitness in Nov 11 before illness struck with the view of then recommencing Week 9 of my 32 week Marathon training programme next week!


Somehow though, very unlike me I ended up getting completely lost when I decided to try and improve a running route which previously ran out of pavement for a portion of the route....problems started when I tried to find an alternative route to keep on the pavement.  I succeeded to a point, but eventually had to backtrack through rabbit warrens of closes, avenues and dead end roads.  When I finally got out I still had to run a long way on grass verge anyway so my attempt at a diversion was all for nothing.



The grass was flattened which suggested its what people use anyway but, crazy to have no pavement, especially along a relatively busy residential road!


Unfortunately on top of this it didn't help that I had completely underestimated the distance of the route!  So, I went from a planned 6 miles (10km) which I thought I might of struggled with up to a whopping 9+ miles instead (15km)!  A distance that I have not run since my Half Marathon in Oct 11 but, conveniently the next longest distance in my training programme which I can now happily cross off which will see me starting back on Week 10 next week!


As for the run, I felt good up until the last couple of miles and when I was starting to despair when I was briefly lost.  I had built up a good rhythm, felt focused and relaxed for the majority of the run and not too cold either!


Another surprise and another positive for the Galloway Run-Walk-Run technique, was when I compared the time of this 15km run with the 15km I completed as part of my Half Marathon.  I was only 22 seconds slower this time around which isn't bad at all especially when you consider I had 16 walk breaks as part of the Galloway Run-Walk-Run technique, it wasn't a race, I got lost and I spent a good while trying to find the way out and back onto familiar territory!

1 comment: