Week 10, I'm half way there!!
Bit of a weird training week this time around. The curse of work struck again and by the weekend I'd managed only one 8 mile slog on the treadhills (during which I almost shot off the back when I shoved on too much speed for a "sprint" at the end). The prospect of a rare night out with Emma and some Thai food Saturday night meant that my usual Sunday morning running time didn't appeal, so I switched up to Saturday.
Once again the weather gods were smiling and I lucked in with the sunnier of the two weekend mornings. I followed roughly the same route as last week skirting the edge of Portsea Island and covered 14 miles in this week's two hours. In fact I'm developing a bit of an obsession with the route around the island and am planning an attempt on the full circumnavigation next weekend. Last week I attempted to discover the best route on the fiddly bit around Old Portsmouth by following a young lady who had overtaken me at the Hot Walls and strode confidently on to Broad Street ahead of me. The realisation that she didn't know where she was going either a few minutes later was somewhat embarrassing as she ran into a dead end road and I followed her! Having established that I wasn't a mugger, or worse, we actually ended up running together for the next mile or so before parting ways. Now that bit of the route is sussed the only remaining mystery is the bit along the top from Hilsea to the Eastern Road. Luckily for me I won't need to resort to following random women joggers through the woods as I'm a member of a very friendly running group (BOSH running - and, no I don't know what it means either) and a kind hearted follow Portsmuthian has unlocked the secret for me. I'll let you know how this cross between Phileas Fogg and Docker Hughes gets on next week!
I didn't escape exercise entirely on Sunday morning and was invited to join my first ever spinning class. If the concept of running on the treadmill is a weird one then spinning classes take it to the next level (you can't watch the football while you do it for starters). A whole group of us pounding away for 30 minutes and going nowhere whilst the instructor bellowed instructions about "R.P.M's", "Speedsters", "Position 2" and other stuff I couldn't keep up with. My legs were in total shock for the first half of the class and only the potential embarrassment of quitting half way up the first imaginary hill in front of my wife and our friend kept me going. All in all though I found it fun, I worked my legs at plenty of different angles that running just doesn't and will definitely be going back, just not the day after a 14 mile long run!
So, 10 weeks down & 10 to go. Lots of the tough miles are ahead but I'm gently pushing the boundaries of my running ability and mostly enjoying the ride right now. Long may it continue, but if it doesn't I suppose I can always take my bike.
Bit of a weird training week this time around. The curse of work struck again and by the weekend I'd managed only one 8 mile slog on the treadhills (during which I almost shot off the back when I shoved on too much speed for a "sprint" at the end). The prospect of a rare night out with Emma and some Thai food Saturday night meant that my usual Sunday morning running time didn't appeal, so I switched up to Saturday.
Once again the weather gods were smiling and I lucked in with the sunnier of the two weekend mornings. I followed roughly the same route as last week skirting the edge of Portsea Island and covered 14 miles in this week's two hours. In fact I'm developing a bit of an obsession with the route around the island and am planning an attempt on the full circumnavigation next weekend. Last week I attempted to discover the best route on the fiddly bit around Old Portsmouth by following a young lady who had overtaken me at the Hot Walls and strode confidently on to Broad Street ahead of me. The realisation that she didn't know where she was going either a few minutes later was somewhat embarrassing as she ran into a dead end road and I followed her! Having established that I wasn't a mugger, or worse, we actually ended up running together for the next mile or so before parting ways. Now that bit of the route is sussed the only remaining mystery is the bit along the top from Hilsea to the Eastern Road. Luckily for me I won't need to resort to following random women joggers through the woods as I'm a member of a very friendly running group (BOSH running - and, no I don't know what it means either) and a kind hearted follow Portsmuthian has unlocked the secret for me. I'll let you know how this cross between Phileas Fogg and Docker Hughes gets on next week!
I didn't escape exercise entirely on Sunday morning and was invited to join my first ever spinning class. If the concept of running on the treadmill is a weird one then spinning classes take it to the next level (you can't watch the football while you do it for starters). A whole group of us pounding away for 30 minutes and going nowhere whilst the instructor bellowed instructions about "R.P.M's", "Speedsters", "Position 2" and other stuff I couldn't keep up with. My legs were in total shock for the first half of the class and only the potential embarrassment of quitting half way up the first imaginary hill in front of my wife and our friend kept me going. All in all though I found it fun, I worked my legs at plenty of different angles that running just doesn't and will definitely be going back, just not the day after a 14 mile long run!
So, 10 weeks down & 10 to go. Lots of the tough miles are ahead but I'm gently pushing the boundaries of my running ability and mostly enjoying the ride right now. Long may it continue, but if it doesn't I suppose I can always take my bike.
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