The best inspiration is not to outdo others, but to outdo ourselves

I went out this morning for the biggest run of the week, something that would have seemed quite long to me until quite recently, now it doesn't really. I did 10 miles. Imagine that! Ten miles isn't very far any more! How did that happen? Anyway, I wasn't at all sure that I wanted to get out there at all this morning. I wasn't feeling at my best, entirely self inflicted, sadly, but there you have it. And no, it didn't involve alcohol - I've given that up for Lent. It involved sugar overload instead. I don't know why it seemed like a good idea to eat a whole load of sugary junk last night, but I can tell you right now that it wasn't. To be honest, I knew it wasn't even at the time and didn't like the sugary after taste in my mouth, I went to clean my teeth early to try and get rid of it. So, you can no doubt imagine, I was none too happy when I woke up this morning and found it still there - yuk!

So it was, that feeling rather lethargic and full of junk I set out to face the world before six o'clock this morning. It was chilly when I went out, with a light smattering of snow, but otherwise seemed pretty okay running weather. I headed off for the road that I use for mile repeats as I had five to do today. I ran the 1.3 miles to get there using the 9 minute 1 minute pattern. I wasn't at all sure how my repeats would go given how I was feeling, but I managed the first 3 in 8.5 minutes per mile, I was very pleased with that. The fourth one took me 9 minutes, still pretty good for me. Then I had to run back home, a serious need for a trip to the toilet dictated this break in proceedings. Then I headed back out for the last repeat, which I just did from the house and managed another 8.5 minute mile, then plodded my way back up the hill.

The strange thing was the weather. because I was running past the same places repeatedly, I could see the freeze in progress. As the sky lightened, the clouds departed and the temperature clearly dropped as there was more and more ice each time I passed certain puddles and the surface underfoot was gradually becoming more and more slippy. I've never seen that like that before, but it was very clearly freezing up as I ran!

Distance: 287 miles

Time: 52:51:41

Calories: 27,373