Back to it …

Work and running that is. I don’t mind my job, in fact I actually quite like it. However I must admit I do prefer the freedom to run when I like. At this time of year the early dusk means that runs must be squeezed in. Luckily I was home early enough to get out for a while.

The last two days the rain has been torrential so it was a good time to rest the legs and let them recover anyway. Apparently its a good idea to rest them every other day. I’m not sure, run when you can I think because you never know what will happen tomorrow. Maybe it’ll rain, maybe you’ll be stuck in work, maybe you’ll get run over by a bus (make sure you’re wearing underwear apparently)  Well the running when possible seems to work for me anyway, I can tell when my body is saying no, it said no at the start of this week – probably due to last weekends milage and mud – the muscles were a little tight i’ll admit.

So today was four and a half miles to Nash Point and back via the road. I try to keep from the roads but it seemed sensible today to avoid the worst of the mud and darkness was going to fall so I need to get back fairly sharpish.

Todays Route (Manually edited as Runkeeper had a flipout halfway)

I did discover something interesting on the road, in some of the reading i’ve been doing people talk about runners “form” as in the posture of the body while running. Normally off road my stride is based partially upon terrain – apart from sand. But on roads I found I can increase my stride length and almost bound along at greater speed rather than my usual trail running which requires the constant adjustment of pace and stride length.

It was also easier to concentrate on form on the road as there are no obstacles to negotiate, trail running often requires an eyes down fierce concentration to avoid falling, thus the running is more natural, you run as best you can. In some ways I envy road runners who can bounce serenely from foot to foot with elegance – then again I prefer the technical aspects and sheer dogged endurance for offroad – different strokes and all that.

Mentally today has been better too, my head felt clearer and perhaps knowing i’d be running after work helped a little too.  I’ve been through this enough to know there are good days and bad, enjoy the good and try to keep them coming and not assume that every bad day or setback is the end of the world. Easy to type now, I wont believe it when i’m dipping, even if I read this. But it’s true enough. It’s hard to judge whats level when you dont know how solid the ground you’re standing on is.