There is a lot of talk at the moment about Marathons. The ballot results for VLM have been released, a flurry of activity for those getting in, those that didn’t looking for other sprint marathons. We also seem to have had a few high profile races in this area – Yorkshire 10 mile, Yorkshire Marathon etc. this is great, except when you are feeling a bit on a low with your running it can feel a bit like your nose is being rubbed in it! However the world carries on around you and in reality I wouldn’t want everyone else to stop running just because I’ve been struggling so I have to find a different way of dealing with it. And that is what I have been doing – quietly trying to get on with it and slowing build myself back up. But there comes a point where you have to be brave and push again and for me, that was one evening at the end of last week. We had a very busy weekend planned and I knew that I would not be able to run Fri / Sat / Sun, I’d not been out for a solo run for what seemed like ages, I really needed the headspace….
The initial plan: have a steady first mile to warm up well and then try half mile tempo / half mile recovery for a minimum of another 2 or 3 miles. This would give me a minimum of 3 miles run, and I thought if I felt really good I could carry on after 4 miles.
What actually happened (am I the only one that sometimes changes a plan once I’m out??): steady first mile to warm up, which wasn’t quite as steady as I’d anticipated (09:20 min). As I then upped my pace for the second mile I decided that rather than doing half mile intervals I would just see if I could complete the second mile quicker than the first (08:52 min). This is faster than I’ve run for quite a while. Thought turning round just after the two mile point was probably a good idea (I knew I couldn’t sustain this for too long, and it was getting late and the later I was out running the later tea would be!). I kept pushing for the third mile, although feel like I was cheating a bit as part of this mile had a back wind (08:30 min) before easing off slightly for the fourth mile (08:49). I was struggling a bit by this last mile, I had a pain in my side which at first I thought was the start of a stitch, but it didn’t develop like that and I think it was maybe the ribs that I hurt grumbling a bit due to pushing on this run.
I also wore my new chest light slightly differently and it was much better – review to follow soon. Very glad I took it as although not quite dusk when I set out it was dark by the time I was back and part of my run was on an unlit country lane with no pavement.
I am so glad that I took the opportunity to get out and do this run. It’s given me a little bit of confidence that my running is improving a tiny bit after the forced lay off and it helps my mental health so much. 40 minutes in the dark, on my own, doing what makes me feel good.
a mile run 
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