Mid-week run

I'm setting my new objectives in my head for the moment. Unfortunately, they are still only in my head and haven't actually been officialised on paper or been sent as signals from my brain to the rest of my body to be put into action ... yet. Nevertheless, as a sign of intent, I set out this morning in order to increase my weekly mileage and to gain a sound base in preparation for the cross-country season. I haven't quite got as far as working out the interval sessions that are necessary too, but the distance is already a sound start.

The traffic to work has decreased dramatically now that the festive season has arrived. I'm making the most of this week before everything returns to normal next week and people return from holiday. I almost set the alarm for 6:30 am this morning in order to do an early morning run before having breakfast with Laurence and then going to work, and then I thought about it more carefully. If I set the alarm for 6:00am then I can get an even longer run in before waking my wife for breakfast and jumping in the car. So it was another early start when I pulled on my running kit to face the cold weather outdoors and headed into town for my early morning run. Shutting the door behind me, I realised that it wasn't as cold as I had imagined and the light snow falling was quickly turning into slush and then rain.

I set off at an easy pace down to the river avoided the patches of ice and snow that were still around. I soon slipped into that dream state that you find when you're not pushing the pace too hard and my thoughts were elsewhere. Most of this daydreaming was focused on the forthcoming cross-country races and what my objectives are for these. The best part of the endorphin induced state in running for me is that I can begin to think clearly about problems and eliminate the unimportant or non-essential in the decision making process. So what were my conclusions ? My objective for this cross-country season is to beat Thierry. I have to be focused on this one objective. No one cares about times in cross-country races. It's only between you and the competition. I have only one competitor this season who I'm interested in (remember that cross-country races are by age category - so no Nico, no Gérald) : Thierry. If I'm going to improve, I need to train harder, to run stronger and to fight harder in the races.

Having sorted all of that out, I sped up and thought about my next interval session and working hard. Even the endorphins aren't strong enough however to cancel out the pain in this instance.

15.3 km all up in 1:10 or 4:37 per km. Good run and lovely to get back to the house to find the rest of the household still in bed enjoying their holidays. Laurence enjoyed the few extra minutes in bed due to the longer run before she got up to have breakfast with me and prepare for her run.