A couple of Cardigan Loops

Monday 5th January

Run #5

5k Cardigan Road Loops

It seems while the running every day, even if only super-short distances, is just about being adhered to, the blogging every day about it is not quite managing the same. But as long as I can maintain less than 24-hours post-run write up I think I'll be OK. So let's see how quickly that slips, shall we….!

Yesterday I hit the shops after work to return some Christmas sales stuff, so didn't actually get home until 19:45. M was cooking supper and told me if I was going to run I had to go straight out. So I donned the new kit I'd just purchased: sports bra and long sleeve base layer (OK, so it wasn't all returning stuff!), and dug out my running light and headed out.

I have recently swapped my laces out for elastic Nathan Lock Laces - after the November Embrace Sports running camp where everyone had lock laces and raved about them. After a couple of runs I have been pretty impressed: still getting used to not over-tightening tem on one side (which can feel a bit like your ankle tendons are being cheese-wired) and I did somehow manage to snap myself in the nail bed with the toggle - Lord knows how - which was unnecessarily painful! But love how quickly it means you ca get your runners on and off, and how they never loosen or come undone. Think I'll be swapping out the laces in all my runners in the near future. Especially as there are so many funky colours.

Anyway, back to the run. We are hugely lucky to live at the top of Richmond Hill. Arguably one of the most beautiful locations in the UK imho with close proximity to Richmond Park and the Thames riverside paths. But, the kicker is in the name: while every run starts with a downhill, and uphill to get home is inevitable! So, as I knew I had to get this run over double quick, I decided to embrace the hill and did 3 loops from the flat down the hill and back around one block, then the next block over, then the next. I tried to keep the speed on the ups as consistent with the downs as I could but, while I may have managed maintenance in perceived exertion, the Garmin taunted me with how far off I truly was in terms of speed (4:50kmp down vs 6:15kph up!!). All in, this was an enjoyable run, and one I think I'll repeat every now and then as a gauge of my improvement in uphill speed.

Also, have just remembered this year's Jantastic kicked off on Monday, so I am going to have to plan in for some longer distances or I'll be failing that one right out of the gates.