Day 117: logging the last few days

Well, life's been pretty hectic this week, what with a ton of time and energy spent developing Caille Consulting Ltd and also looking at job openings all around. So, I've logged fewer of my running efforts, and here are the latest events in my journey towards the Bath Half.

Two days ago - skipped the 45 min Fartlek. With Stephen still struggling with a moody ankle, I'm running solo, and this kind of more 'complex' training is a little out of the question. I guess I don't have it in my heart to find the motivation :) I did intend to have a run during the day, but got caught up in service definition activities for my business and therefore didn't stick to that. So, I decided that I should stick to the morning runs from now on, as I'm less likely to skip them...

Yesterday - 10 min jog, 10 run, 10 min jog. The first jog was sweet: there was a heron standing lonely and perfectly motionless, knee-deep in the Canal on my way to the park. No one else around. The run was good and fast. I didn't try the two laps of the Shadwell Basin, so couldn't compare distances with the last 10-min session I had, but I reckon I was rather swift.

Today - didn't do the scheduled interval training, but did treat myself to a gorgeous jog punctuated by two sprints. I was alone and had the North Bank of the river for myself all the way to Blackfriars Bridge. From that point I started to see a few more runners, but nowhere near as many as in the last few days (Friday laziness?), and I feasted my eyes on one of the most incredibly beautiful sunrises I have seen over Tower Bridge in a long while (and they are usually stunning). Canary Wharf towers bathed in a light mist, soft pink sky, swollen waters, a couple of lonely little boats patrolling on the Thames, and the contours of the dolphin-and-woman statue near the bridge darkening against the sky. Sweet!

I also received my number for the Ashford & District 10K race (I am number 195!), which is next week, and sent my exepected-time form to Shelter for the Bath Half. I'm excited!

Have a wonderful weekend y'all.

Day 64: Santa beat running

Oh well, you can make an exception to a training programme sometimes, right? Yesterday, as I lay on the bed with a firm intention to read a few pages of Terry Pratchett's Making Money and to relax for an hour or so before the hard 90-min run that was on schedule, I slowly drifted off... and woke up an hour later, tucked deep under the duvet after a full-on nap. By then, the sun was already setting, it would have been a long run in the dark, coach Stephen was as lazy as I was, and we had a tree to decorate, stollen slices to taste and Sauternes to drink. So we decided we would not fail our duty to the Christmas spirit, and this time, just this once, we skipped a run. That was a brilliant idea! :)

Today, back to the programme with our usual Monday jog (30 min), and a very, very lazy feeling all round. Another week starts...

Day 58: running with Bambi

Aaaah, the country looks mighty fine today. We are just back from a good 75 min Fartlek session around the village of St Bris des Bois, through the old land of my great uncle (where we saw three deer!), pass a medieval church, and round (and round) a pond... It's cold and there were some patches of frost, but it was nice to see bits of mist still lingering here and there, and the sun is glorious in a cloudless sky. On top of which, coach Stephen got a chance to marvel at some weird-looking and strangely-wailing chickens......

Running really gets you to appreciate the small things, tenfold: a long warm shower, sitting down at last (ouch), lying there reading and not doing much more, and of course appreciating mum-made cuisine to the full....

Day 56: and yet another longest run ever!!!

Today we run a staggering 90 min, with lots of uphills, and covered a total of 10.49 miles, 16.8 Km!!! I am so, so proud of us, so chuffed, and oh-so sore... It's very enjoyable to run in a new setting, with lots of fresh air, dead-quiet country roads, woodland on each side, little hamlets, and fairly good weather (good for a run at least: cool, and dry up until the last third, when rain was refreshing and thus welcome).

To top it all up, we were greeted at home by a wonderful slap-up meal (including home-made foie gras and a lovely bottle of Loupiac) and some gifts for a very early holiday celebration. And we've been dozing since then... Niiiice.

I would write lots more but the 'azerty' keboard is a bloody nightmare to use now, so I will just say this: it was a very hard run, and for the last 20 min I had no thoughts left (except 5 min of a nasty little internal voice repeating the word 'walk' in a seductive and sultry tone); I also went through a time when I wasn't sure my legs were still there...

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.

I want to run (or at least jog)

Well, it's not so easy to take a break! Although I thoroughly enjoyed the extra hour in bed this morning, I did miss my invigorating daily outing, and that strange feeling of being privileged that you get when you have London almost for yourself. I did envy the person I saw stretching after her run this morning, as I was walking by the basin on my way to work. Oh well, it's good to be looking forward to this!

I am dreadfully hungry, too.

And, I'm taking the opportunity of this short posting to thank Karen K, who made a generous donation and left a nice comment on Just Giving this morning. I am so pleased; thank you Karen for keeping this fundraising going and helping me reach my target! K x