Its been a great start to the month.
Yesterday's 14 miles was really enjoyable. Set off nice and early and whilst it was cold and breezy the threatened high winds hadn't set in and the snowfall didn't start until mid afternoon.
I'm lucky with where I run. Yesterday's run had me heading out and back along the Leeds Liverpool canal as usual. That meant I ran through a mix of suburban, rural and industrial settings, finishing up at the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Saltaire.
As per the 12 miler I did a fortnight earlier I deliberately set off slowly with the first mile being at the surprisingly ponderous 11.16 per mile pace. The next 4 miles were all slow too - between 10.43 and 10.57 against a target of 10.24. I knew I ought to speed up a bit (and unsurprisingly felt fine) but thought that was a bit much to make up and guessed at a 10.30 average if I was lucky. In the end I speeded up quite naturally and from mile 7 onwards pace ranged between 10.09 and 9.38 for a run average of 10.19. No pain, aside from a tight feeling behind my left knee in the final mile or so.
Didn't feel too pooped when I stopped and got back in the car either - a noticeable improvement on much of January.
I got in, had my chocolate Rego recovery drink and headed for my first cold bath. I'd read a number of accounts extolling the virtues of cold or ice baths and had used the cold pool at Canons Gym in 2007's training so decided to have another bash. Sue ran me a bath of cold water but because of the weather it was close to freezing already and within seconds of putting my feet in I was in agony from cramp like pains.
A dash of hot water and I was ok. I sat shivering dressed in t-shirt, fleece and trolleys for 10 minutes. On undressing to dry I was alarmed and amused to find my 'member' had been swapped for a bonsai variety!
It really did help though. Through the day my legs felt a little tired but no aches or stiffness. Its similar this morning, despite another session with the massage stick. Looks like the cold bath could be a weekly pleasure.
Today's good news was that the weight loss continues. The rate of loss has been more sedate overall of late and often stuttering during the week but today marked another drop for my 'official' weigh in. I'm now 13st 3.8lb and less than a month ago I was 14st 6.2lb. With luck I'll be able to cease dieting 2 weeks before Paris at about 12st 4lb.
Yesterday's 14 miles was really enjoyable. Set off nice and early and whilst it was cold and breezy the threatened high winds hadn't set in and the snowfall didn't start until mid afternoon.
I'm lucky with where I run. Yesterday's run had me heading out and back along the Leeds Liverpool canal as usual. That meant I ran through a mix of suburban, rural and industrial settings, finishing up at the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Saltaire.
As per the 12 miler I did a fortnight earlier I deliberately set off slowly with the first mile being at the surprisingly ponderous 11.16 per mile pace. The next 4 miles were all slow too - between 10.43 and 10.57 against a target of 10.24. I knew I ought to speed up a bit (and unsurprisingly felt fine) but thought that was a bit much to make up and guessed at a 10.30 average if I was lucky. In the end I speeded up quite naturally and from mile 7 onwards pace ranged between 10.09 and 9.38 for a run average of 10.19. No pain, aside from a tight feeling behind my left knee in the final mile or so.
Didn't feel too pooped when I stopped and got back in the car either - a noticeable improvement on much of January.
I got in, had my chocolate Rego recovery drink and headed for my first cold bath. I'd read a number of accounts extolling the virtues of cold or ice baths and had used the cold pool at Canons Gym in 2007's training so decided to have another bash. Sue ran me a bath of cold water but because of the weather it was close to freezing already and within seconds of putting my feet in I was in agony from cramp like pains.
A dash of hot water and I was ok. I sat shivering dressed in t-shirt, fleece and trolleys for 10 minutes. On undressing to dry I was alarmed and amused to find my 'member' had been swapped for a bonsai variety!
It really did help though. Through the day my legs felt a little tired but no aches or stiffness. Its similar this morning, despite another session with the massage stick. Looks like the cold bath could be a weekly pleasure.
Today's good news was that the weight loss continues. The rate of loss has been more sedate overall of late and often stuttering during the week but today marked another drop for my 'official' weigh in. I'm now 13st 3.8lb and less than a month ago I was 14st 6.2lb. With luck I'll be able to cease dieting 2 weeks before Paris at about 12st 4lb.
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