Phase 2, Week 1 - Ups and Downs

My good lady wife has been away in Brussels for the last 2 days and I have to confess that I am totally useless without her.  I'm overwhelmed with a dreadful ennui when she's not here and I rattle around the house like a pea in a drum, knowing that I have to do stuff like cook a proper meal and shave etc. but end up standing, unshaven by the worktop with a bowl of cereal.  It always feels very sad, to me, sitting at the dining table alone.  I've also found that this sorry state of affairs applies to my running and, as I hang my head in shame, I have to tell you, dear reader, that lethargy and sloth got the better of me this morning.  The Sunday long run remains un-run.  I could come up with numerous excuses for not running today but they would merely be a gossamer cloak to shroud my bone-idleness.

As this post covers all but the first day of 'Phase 2, Week 1', I'll try to keep it brief and to the point.

Day 2 started with an earlier than normal run down to the barrage, again.  We may have to come up with a new route soon so that we don't get fed up with this one.  I don't want the lack of variety to become an excuse not to run.  In the mean time, this route remains very pleasant and on this particular morning it was grey, overcast, windy and threatened rain.  That may not sound very pleasant but there's something about a squally, grey sea that I'm drawn to.  I was brought up by the sea and I have to be near it, on it or in it (very John Masefield!).  Hmmm, brief and to the point, eh!  Any how, it was a 7.95 miles and was done in 1:15:02.  The wind really taking a toll so that we had to stop on 75 minutes.

The gym session for this week is the same as last and I seem to be getting to grips with the 21s using the 9kg dumbbells.  They're still hard but I'm not swinging or arching my back on the last set.  Fabulous.

Day 3 was where this week varied from the previous.  Bryan had kept his promise about varying the running by adding an intervals session and a long run.  I've already explained about the long run or lack of it so here's the skinny on the intervals.

6 x 1km to be run in 5 minutes with 3 minutes walked recovery between each interval.

I can't abide running machines so I opted for a trip to the new athletics stadium at Leckwith to use the 400m track.  It was Friday afternoon and I was the only person out on the field.  I must have looked an unusual spectacle from the busy, nearby roads as I plodded 'round and 'round.  2 and 1/2 laps is, of course, 1km and I started by jogging 3 laps as a warm-up.

I wasn't sure how fast I needed to go to do it in 5 mins.  It's been a long time since I've done anything like this, so I just went for it.  400m doesn't seem far but it feels like it when you're out there all by yourself.  I completed the 1st rep' in 4:30 and was seriously thinking that there was no way I could do 6 of these.  It took me longer than 3 mins to recover sufficiently to do it again, and I found it more practical to walk a lap of the track in stead of counting time.

The next rep' was, understandably, slower at 4:40 and the next was slower again at 4:52.  The important thing was that I was still under 5 minutes.  It seems that I must have got into my stride as the remaining laps were 4:43, 4:42 and 4:41 respectively, so I was happy but totally shagged.

Driving back to the house allowed me sufficient time to recover enough to tackle the gym session as soon as I got into the garage.  I probably don't need to tell you how smug I felt.

If only I could have remembered that feeling when I woke up this morning.