What a difference a day can make

Consistency has never really been my thing and I often consider myself a person of extremes. It will come of no surprise that this inconsistency flows into my running. This week was always going to be relatively tiring after a weekend away in Edinburgh, but I wanted to get some miles in early on in the week so my legs also had time to recover before race day next Sunday. It has been a really mixed week - the good, the great and the ugly runs as they will now be known!

The first run of the week was an 'emergency coffee run' - Kate was officially finishing the coffee van business this week before heading off to Valencia. This meant we needed to fit one last coffee run in with the crew before she left. We also had a special delivery for Kate so wanted to ensure that she received it in style. Kate received a 'Run For Your Life' hoody as a farewell gift. The gift that in fact travelled the coffee run route before arriving.

Although it was a sad day as it would be our last run to visit Kate in the morning - the actual run was relatively good. I often struggle to run early in the morning - especially when we head off out at 6.30am and I was a little concerned that we had only just flown back from Edinburgh. Despite this my legs seemed up for the challenge and I enjoyed every moment of my run. I always know when I am having a good run as I talk all the way around. If I am struggling silence commences and everyone struggles to get two words out of me! Today was a chatty run day!

My second run was a 'Surprise Coffee Run'. A surprise for a variety of reasons. Firstly after the emergency coffee run I thought I would never be running to Kate's coffee van again.... but ding ding.... here we were again! Squeezing in every last opportunity to catch up with Kate and have an extra cup of coffee. Secondly, it was a surprise as normally I would just run to work alone on a non coffee run day, but today I had the lovely company of David. Although David was weighed down with a heavy backpack he is still a lot quicker than me, but was very kind and ran at my pace so I could get a good training run in. Finally it was a surprise as it ended up being one of my fastest ever runs for coffee. I managed to average my mileage between 8 and 9 minute miles. This is pretty darn quick for me so I was delighted with how it went. Some days everything just comes together and the run feels great.

Still buzzing from my speedy mid week run I thought I would keep momentum and run home from work Thursday evening! What an awful idea this was! This run was pure ugly and nothing felt right about it. My legs were heavy, my brain wasn't into it and every footstep was hard! I have since named this run - 'The Ugly Run'.

I spent the majority of the run considering what I could name my run on STRAVA! It basically kept me entertained and distracted my brain so I could keep going. I have listed a few of the ideas below which might help sum up how awful it felt....

* At least I am running faster than the person walking their dog?

* What a difference a day makes!

* I never want to run again!

* Considering whether I would get home faster if I walked?

* A slow run is better than no run yeah?

* Just need to get home...

The list was endless, and since returning home I have forgotten even half of the suggestions I came up with! In all honesty from looking at the statistics the run is not half as bad time wise as it felt. But am super glad to be home and that the next few days will be rest days before the Great Bentley Half Marathon on Sunday! Time to now get race ready!

#Running #All