This week was a step up. A promotion? Graduation? Whatever it is, it was progress!

I’m now at the stage of my training plan where my runs are set out by distance, not by time. I can stop running and walk for a bit if I need to, but I’m not working to set intervals, and I’m loving the feeling of being able to just… run.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m still not running fast. And I’m still stopping to walk every now and then (usually, conveniently, at pedestrian crossings waiting for the lights to change). But this is very real, identifiable progress, and I’m very thankful I’ve set myself this challenge.

It’s not always great in the moment… but moments pass.

Today was my first time running more than 5km on this plan, and the day hadn’t started as planned. After a couple of glasses of wine on my Friday night lockdown Google Hangout with the girls, I has passed out on the couch exhausted. I woke up at some stage late in the night, turned off the TV and took myself to bed. Where I proceeded to sleep another 11 hours. When I woke up, I felt rough. I took a couple of hours to rehydrate, eat something, and went out for my run anyway. It felt awesome about 1km in.

I’m so glad I still went.

The Stats:

Mon 23 Nov 2020	PM	Outdoor	4.0 km	7’30” pace
Wed 25 Nov 2020	PM	Outdoor	2.5 km	6’40” pace
Fri 27 Nov 2020	PM	Outdoor	4.1 km	7’30” pace
Sat 28 Nov 2020	PM	Outdoor	6.0 km	6’51” pace
Total distance			16.6 km

Heart health –

• Resting heart rate – 68 bpm (previous week: 65 bpm)
• Fitbit ‘cardio fitness’ rating – 33 : “average” (previous week: no change)

Observations:

• I’m really not sure why my 6km run was more similar in pace to my 2.5km short, fast run, than my 4km standard ones… I certainly stopped to walk less on the longer 6km run, but I ran a lot slower knowing I had 50% further to go. Maybe it just goes to show that slow and steady wins the race.
  
• My resting heart rate has increased shockingly the last couple of days. I suspect the jump this Saturday compared to last Saturday is a combination of weekday caffeine overload, and Friday evening alcohol. Makes sense. Sorry, not sorry.