While thousands were taking part in today's Great North Run, an event I completed 2 years ago, I had to get on with recovering my running fitness with a 2 mile jog. Target time about 21 minutes. No rushing, no one to compete with apart from myself. All I had to do was to run all of 2 miles. Simples. It was a cool, windy day. Just as I started preparing for the run, the rest of the family decided to enjoy an ice cream from the van which had just pulled up outside the house. I turned down the offer On went the Asics 2150s, and after a 10 minute warm up using Wii Fit Plus, I was off.
The first mile felt very good, plodding gently along at 6mph, faster than I'd planned but as it felt comfortable I kept going. Every now and then I saw the ice cream van which had tempted my family which I had resisted. I felt good as I ran past it. Probably not as good as those stuffing their faces, but good nonethless. I am letting less and less get in the way of my training again. The problem came after 1.25 miles, when I'd made the mistake of speeding up and developed a stitch. I don't often get these, and usually it's because I've lost my breathing pattern. I slowed down a little, a and concentrated on breathing out when my right foot hit the pavement. Pushing my fist into the site of the discomfort helped too, and it eased fairly quickly. However by this stage I was beginning to feel it. I kept the slow pace for a while, speeding up a little towards the end, a bad habit I've developed and I must break it. With the Garmin re-calibrated, my run took me past the turning for home a little way, which is probably a more true measure of the distance. It also gave me a gentle walk home after the run, good for loosening the legs a little. While I did my customary warm down stretches, the data upload from watch to computer:-
Distance 2.01miles in 20mins 28.49 secs. Average speed 5.9mph, maximum 6.8mph. The run went as planned. Now barring no side effects, it's time to try again next time.
