Thursday 20 November 2008

Day 46: the toughest bit is done!

That's it: the hardest training session of the week is now behind us -- phew. 75 min of Fartleking takes pretty much everything out of you. This time we did find the access to the Regent's Canal (not massively well signposted: it looked like a case of somebody having rotated the signs for a laugh). The route is very nice, with lots of bridges and locks to set goals for sprints, and quiet -- at that early time of day the swans were still asleep, beak under wing on the water. The one not-so-good thing about it is that it isn't very well lit up, so I wouldn't run there on my own at such times (running under the tunnels is borderline spooky).

How satisfying to be done with the dreaded session of the week! I am exhausted, however I am very much looking forward to Sunday's session, which is longer (90 min) but promises to be more leasurely as we will only be jogging, and hopefully the weather will be dry enough that we can stay wherever we end up and enjoy a lunch somewhere afterwards.

On the general side of things, my legs (and, I believe, coach Stephen's) are dead, and I am really starting to think that signing up for a 9-class yoga course was not a clever idea. In the first phase of the programme I felt it was beneficial to have one day a week where I work on stretches and better breathing, but now with the longer running sessions it is starting to feel like a chore to stay in town until 18:15 for yoga, then be home no earlier than 21:00. I've skipped 2-3 sessions already and I am dangerously close to not attending tonight's, either. It's rather tough to 'surrender into Shavasnah' when all you're thinking is "damn, I'll have to go to bed pretty much as soon as I get home again tonight".

I'll end this post with a very positive note though: one new donation on Just Giving! Thank you Stephen, for this and also for the way you calculated the amount you would give -- it suits your beautifully mathematical mind and my oh-so-slightly-competitive nature.

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