February seems to have gone in the blink of an eye. It has been really busy with loads on at work and a great weeks skiing in the Alps, plus numerous games of squash to fit in. However, I didn’t manage a single run. The last run (second half of the Moyleman) took place on the 31st January and the one following that was this morning, the 1st March.
It’s funny how you get out of the habit of running… I wasn’t that keen to be honest, but knew I needed to get out there. So after having my sorry arse thrashed at squash first thing this morning I decided to forgo a shower and head out onto the Downs instead.
As always I had a cunning plan. I would run up Juggs lane and see what happened. I could turn left at Kingston for a 3 miler, head up onto the tops for a 4.5 miler, extend the loop through the Valley of Death, or I was feeling really fit, I could run to Southease and back along the river (10 miles).
I forced myself on this morning and managed the third option, 7.2 miles thought the valley of death. It was really tough – both mentally and physically. Although I have been active during February, the old running muscles have corroded somewhat and the head struggled to keep at it on the hills.
Overall my time wasn’t as bad as I feared, coming in at just short of 11 min/miles, with a moving pace under 10, but I was off my usual form (such as it is).
Coming down the Downs I tried to let myself go with the aim to hit a sub 8 min/mi pace – challenging given the ground conditions. I did it… but whilst recovering at the bottom I realised that there are a lot of runners out there who average that speed over the whole course. Bugger.
