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2013 Part Deux
A couple of great runs at the weekend, indicating that I'm still in OK shape and poised to move back onto bigger things (should I want to).
Friday night seemed a good time to try some speedwork for the first time in a while, so I headed up to the field and put in as fast a lap as I could manage among the increasing tall grasses. It went very, very well: 3 miles at an average of 7:42 pace. A quick scan of the logs shows that the last time I ran any session at a faster average pace was back in Nov 2009. (Quite why I was doing tempo sessions in November I don't know; that's normally pre-marathon program time, but I'm sure my diary could tell me.) The third mile was done in 7:09, which is about as good as it gets for me.
Sunday night I tried taking it a bit longer, three laps at easy pace for a total just short of 6 miles. With a recent Richard Herring podcast in my ears, I approached it as one would a Sunday stroll or drive - no stress or pressure whatsoever. And with intelligent audio to fill my brain, it competely worked, about as relaxed as it's possible for a run to be. Pace was pleasantly marathonesque, and I was able to pick it up for the last mile.
Both times there was a little motivation hurdle to overcome, a moment's hesitation where I wondered whether to bother or not. After all, I'm not training for something, I don't need to run. But I've just gone over that tipping point where I feel it's better to run than not to run. Hopefully that will stay with me for a while.
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