Some Like It Hot...

But I don't. I've never been a warm weather runner, much preferring cold conditions despite 3 years in the stiffling summers of Maryland! Still, today wasn't quite that bad but warm enough to make me suffer somewhat and put pay to my plan for the day. I was hoping to run a 9 mile loop with each lap quicker than the last, starting with a gentle 7min/mile first lap. Well the first two laps went according to plan and then that was the end of that. I hoped to run a average pace of somewhere around 6.50 min/mile and ended up with 7.22 m/m - which isn't too bad considering it must have been mid-high 70s.

So here's the MB output:

Lazy, hot, slow, sweaty

Lazy - I haven't been runnin for nearly a week despite taking my kit with me on holiday; just didn't find the time.

Hot - it was today, quite humid anyway

Slow - was my pace on today's run up to Cleeve Hill and then cross-country back home to complete a 7 mile circuit. Very slow pace but the conditions certainly didn't help and I've eaten far too much over the last few days so it all contributed!

Sweaty - I was indeed very.

Here's the route:

Tues Run

No Harriers tonight so I went for a 10 miler from home. This incorporated Bushcombe Lane and most of Cleeve Hill so quite a challenging first 5-6 miles. I took the scenic, cross country route wherever possible and it turned out to be a pretty nice run. Quite humid tonight and I found the hills tough tonight, but overall a hard but enjoyable run. Here it is..

Shoes

Am I the Amalda Marcos of running? Probably not, but I do have quite an array of shoes at the moment! I have:

Mizuno Alchemy 7's - general purpose running & training
Mizuno Elixir 3's - race shoes
Walsh's - for XC and when it's really muddy
Salomon Trail - multi-terrain shoes
New Balance - multi-terrain shoes

The Alchemy's are the ones I use for general running as they are a great set of stability / motion control shoes. I sometimes use the Elixir's for short, speed runs (less than 5 miles) as they have little stability/support. The Salomon's are excellent for off road, but they give me blisters after about 6 miles or so.

This afternoon I might give the Elixir's a blast around Cleeve - haven't done much speed running for a while now.

Double Trouble

As Laura is in prep for the Snowdon 10 miler, 'we' decided to do a double run up Mill Lane to the top of Cleeve Hill last night. Ouch. First attempt was awful and I was soon left trailing with my marathon-weary legs still not as fresh as they should be. We then circled back to the bottom of the hill and started again - much better second time around! Overall, a good but testing 10.6 mile run that included road, trail, a difficult technical downhill and even a brisk sprint finish!

Wouldn't want to do that run every week though!

Yesterday

And here's the output from yesterday's outing.

Back to it

Two runs today. First was Helen's at the Race for Life - she did really well and considering it was only 6 months ago today that she was undergoing a major operation and giving birth to Bethany, I'm really proud that she did the run and in under 40 mins. Well done H.

Inspired (and realising my total mileage last week was 6!!), I went for a 7 miler which contained Bushcombe Lane (aka Everest) and some nice cross-country back to the house. No real pace, but trying to coax my feet back into the game gently.

Hope to be back out with the Harriers on Tuesday, time to re-tune the legs and get some miles going again.

R.