Third time running 25 minutes and it was the toughest of the bunch.
I hadn’t slept that well the night before which I fully blame on a dodgy Doner Kebab (why do I do it). Also not helped by the pup deciding he needed to go at 7 in the morning. At least I managed to get him back to sleep by 8 and we slept through to about 11 – good boy.
Feeling a little bit more with it, I’ve decided I’d get this run done sooner rather than later, so I headed to the local park at midday on a blisteringly hot Saturday. I was starting to think it was a bad idea walking up, I also noted my legs (thighs particularly) weren’t a 100% recovered from the last run. Not a problem but possibly a hint I should have taken another day to recover.
Got the app loaded and completed the 5 minute warm up walk before easing into a slow run. Out to 5 minutes with no problems, it is baking hot and I’m trying to plot a course that keeps me in the shade as much as possible. I’ve decided to go anti-clockwise round the park and at the 8 minute mark I’m having to work to get up the incline, by 10 minutes I’m really puffing and panting. My pace has slowed right down, I’m seriously not having fun, a quick status check is indicating some real problems:
- legs – not good, I don’t seem to have as much strength as usual and the incline has taken a lot out of them
- feet – no problems, that’s something.
- stomach – let’s be honest it’s got a lot to complain about after the Doner Kebab and it’s making it’s feelings on the subject known. Not nausea as such just a general knot of annoyance.
- lungs – not good, panting badly and I’ve still some uphill to go, I’m already going slow there isn’t much I can do, any slower and I would be walking.
The negative voices started at the ten minute mark, pointing out how difficult it was and I wasn’t even half way. Seems to be the opening gambit of doubt, it knows me too well.
Laura chimes in at 12.5 minutes that we are half way. The voices know I’m struggling and seize their opportunity to push the attack. I came really close to quitting at 14 minutes (again). Luckily, I crested the incline and was on the downhill leg and my breathing was slowly coming back to me. By the time I hit the incline again I had managed to get myself just about back under control. Laura chimes in at 20 minutes and as always I tell myself I can’t quit now, event though the temptation to sit down on one of the park benches was compelling.
I pushed on, up hill again in the last 5 minutes and all I’m thinking is just get to the top again and you’ll have done it. My pace was pretty much as slow as a I can run without walking, on the steepest part there were a couple of steps that had been closer to walking than running. I leaned forward to force myself to keep going.
Last minute, Laura chimes in again, “if you think you can go faster …”, err nope. I’m going downhill and struggling to keep it together, breathing isn’t recovering after the last time up the incline. So there was no chance of putting in a sprint finish, not this time. Finally hit 25m minutes and switched into my post-workout stagger towards the park exit.
It took the entire 5 minutes warm down walk to get my breathing under control and stop staggering, walking back home I fully realised just how hot it was, I was sweating profusely from every pore. My mouth was dry I think I’d lost most of my water panting like a dog. I’m pretty sure to an onlooker I would have looked quite rabid. I get back home and pass out in front of a fan, with the puppy trying to help by licking the salt off of me. thanks boy, I honestly didn’t care. 3 pints of water and 15 minutes later and I was almost human again.
In hindsight, there was a combination of factors I need to probably avoid, Doner Kebabs and runs in the midday sun at the height of a heat-wave. I definitely underestimated the impact of both today. At least my legs feel better than the end of the last run, in fact they feel better than the start of the run.
Playlist was my standard running playlist there was only one track, that stood out and helped on that final climb:
Day is gonna come – Royal Deluxe
I added this track a few weeks back, I heard it in a World Cup montage and it struck a chord. It really helped me on that last climb:
“It’s time to get going, it’s time to move on
Put this behind me, that day is gonna come
I’m breaking the walls down, one by one
Nothing can stop me, that day is gonna come”
Pretty obvious, the whole track is upbeat and obviously the day is gonna come when I finish this run and the whole C25K program. The last part of the chorus really helped get over the hump and reminded me to hang on, it won’t be long now.
“Oo oo oo yeah, Oo oo oo yeah,
Oo oo oo yeah, that day is gonna come
Oo oo oo yeah
Oo oo oo yeah, it won’t be long
Oo oo oo yeah, it won’t be long now
Oo oo oo yeah, o’right”
So that was Week 7 run 2, these run’s don’t get any easier, they really don’t. There are so many variables and I have such a tentative grasp on this distance that every run is far from a given, and it only takes a momentary slip to end up failing. Today was another remainder of that.
