Happily Ever After

Life in The Rural Retreat with a beautiful wife, three cats, garden wildlife, a camera, a computer – and increasing amounts about running

Earlier posts can be found on Adventures of a Lone Bass Player, where this blog began life. Recent entries can be found here.

A Disappointing Day

by Russell Turner - 18:29 on 20 November 2017

It’s over. After six weeks, beginning with runs of one minute, this afternoon I completed the final, 30-minute run of the Virgin couch to 5k schedule. I’d been looking forward to this, knowing that it was attainable. It was, but the weather gods and a van driver turned the day into a huge anticlimax.

The first ten minutes were hard going – maybe it was the damp in the air following the morning downpour, or running later in the day than usual. However, I pressed on and had begun to loosen up when, one mile after starting, I rounded a corner and was confronted by a flooded road. My run became a cautious walk as I attempted to bypass the water by taking to the verge, leading to wet shoes, wet socks and the knowledge that it would get worse before it got better.

There was nothing for it but to turn around, which unfortunately coincided with a brief climb, and I’d just got properly moving again when a van and trailer caused me to stop while it passed. Rural roads can be a nuisance.

I persevered. Hindsight tells me I should have called it a day at 30 minutes, which was all the schedule required, but I was determined to add the extra half-mile and finish with a 5k flourish. This, however, meant the last quarter-mile was slightly uphill. And the 5k time ended up slower than when I’d covered the distance doing walk/runs two weeks ago. Ho hum.

The only positives in a disappointing day are that, apart from when forced to stop, I did run the full distance, albeit with a heart rate of which Matchgirl and Cathy will not approve. I’ll try the 30 minutes again on Wednesday – my last opportunity before we leave for Florence – and with luck that will bring the first part of my marathon training to a more satisfactory end.

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