Back home

Arrived home yesterday and it was good to be back. Ok the weather was a good 5 °C colder than in the south but it was home and our normal bed instead of being forced onto the sofa bed by our kids. Amazing all the sacrifices you have to make to bring up 2 boys and then the gratitude you receive...

It was no sacrifice to go running this morning. Well, slightly, as I had to sacrifice a couple of hours sleep that would have gone down well. The alarm went too early as per usual and I jumped out of bed like the good robot that I am and pulled on my running kit.

I enjoyed my run this morning as I didn't have to think, or worry, or do anything that required much effort in any respect really. I just jogged and daydreamed and then thought and evacuated all of the stress that accumulates from work etc. This is why we all run: to achieve our goals; to relax and find some form of balance in our lives; to keep fit; and to achieve a level of fitness that makes us feel good about ourselves. This last part is the most important: of course we can get even fitter but that requires more sacrifices, more training and more effort. We find that balance where the effort is equal to the return in the image we form of ourselves. I know I could go faster if I was able to devote a full days effort to my training schedule and do precious little else. However, the effort I do now keeps me satisfied with how I am and what I achieve. I strive to run better and more efficiently but I'm not prepared to sacrifice everything else in my life to achieve that goal. You have to find that balance.

I daydreamed today as I ran. Just a little. I knew that I could run faster but I told myself that I was on a recovery run so why bother. I asked myself those unaswerable questions: what if I run my intervals too fast (or too slow); do I do enough threshold mileage; do I run my recovery runs too fast ? None of these questions has an answer as they are all too personal and vary between each of us as runners. I feel good about my recovery runs when I'm able to switch off and think about something else. I don't need a heart rate monitor to tell me that I'm at the right pace: if I can achieve this then I'm running right. This is what happened this morning and as a result I'm unable to describe in any detail what happened as I was daydreaming. Which was perfect.

12.8 km all up in 58:24 or an average pace of 4:34 per km.