Week two has had great points, and not-so-great points.

I had my favourite run so far earlier in the week, but hospitalised family and the new lockdown had my anxiety through the roof. I was signed off work for a couple of days and though it meant that I was able to get out for runs in the daytime, I had one false start.

If ‘false start’ is an accurate way to describe a complete inability to breathe. Which it probably isn’t.

Thursday saw things settling a bit and I was able to get through a good run and clear my head a little. I still need to work on that breathing, but Thursday was the first official day of Lockdown 2.0 and we were met with foggy weather to match. It was my first time running in fog, and visibility was terrible. I had to concentrate on what I was doing and where I was going the whole time, which was actually pretty good for getting me out of my head.

It was also a good excuse to get out an old fluro race shirt, too. I haven’t had the guts to wear it in public much… I didn’t even enjoy wearing it for the event. It kind of stands out…

The Stats:

Tues 3 Nov 2020	PM	Outdoor	3.9km	7’45” pace
Wed 4 Nov 2020	AM	Outdoor	0.6km	–
Thu 5 Nov 2020	AM	Outdoor	4.5km	6’48” pace
Sat 7 Nov 2020	AM	Outdoor	4.4 km	7’51” pace
Total distance			12.8 km

Heart health –

• Resting heart rate – 69 bpm (previous week: 70 bpm)
• Fitbit ‘cardio fitness’ rating – 34 : “average” (previous week: 32 point something: “average”)

Observations:

This week’s observations have been largely anxiety-related. I can feel my fitness improving – you can see it in my stats – but breathing is a real struggle.

This morning’s run focussed more on how long I could run without taking a walking break, rather than how far I can get in a 1 min running interval, and it felt really, really different. Breathing wasn’t easier, but I could tell that this is what will help me reach my goals. That, and I know I couldn’t have done this run two weeks ago.

I’m so excited to see what I can do two weeks from now.