More recovery - much needed

The night was short and the recovery from last night's interval session too. I just managed to finish writing up the blog before getting to bed and before I knew it the alarm had gone off and I was getting up again.

I took my time getting dressed (all of 4 minutes) and headed out of the house wondering what my legs would feel like. I wasn't wondering that much as even going down the stairs before I left, I could feel my knees aching and almost buckling beneath me with every step.

I set off and it wasn't glorious. The pace was slow, my legs were tired and I almost felt like walking after 1.5km. The temperature was warm and there was plenty of cloud cover, which meant that after 2 km I was also drenched in sweat. I just kept going. It was one of those mornings where there is nothing else to do but to get the bit between your teeth and keep going. My body fell into a sleepy sort of rhythm after this and I no longer paid attention to my pace or my surroundings. I'd been running around 4:50 pace to begin with probably and the first time I looked at my watch it was at 5km and I saw the lap time of 4:43.

I ran around the park in Maisons Laffitte, happy to feel the gravel of the path as opposed to the tarmac on the road as it gave my knees a little rest. I maintained my pace to the end, too tired to envisage an acceleration.

13km all up in 1:00 or an average pace of  4:44 / km. Should be better tomorrow.