This was a “step back” week, where the distance dropped back a bit to give me a chance to rest. In truth, I’m not quite sure it worked out that way.
My first day of running – Tuesday – saw me do just over four miles on the treadmill. I could have gone at lunchtime, but things were busy at work and I knew I would be going to the gym later, so I decided I would just wait until taking Cameron to the gym in the evening.
That was pretty much where normality stopped.
Wednesday saw me travelling to London with my daughter Jenni, who had an interview for a University course there. We travelled on the train, Leaving home quite early, so I didn’t manage a Wednesday mid-length run.
I tried to make up for that on Thursday by going for a decent run near my accommodation in Bethnal Green. I went out around Victoria Park, and parts of Regent’s Canal. Conditions were pretty reasonable and I got in a decent run, which made up for missing Wednesday’s run. Though in truth, it was as much a photo-walk as it was a run!
Max elevation: 19 m
Min elevation: 12 m
Friday was another day of travelling, as there was an Applicants’ day at Nottingham Trent University. So we drove down on the Friday, and back home on the Saturday after seeing the University’s presentation. That kept us very busy, with no time for running.
And so we got to Sunday and the long slow run. I really was not feeling ready for this after the week I had had. But I managed to get myself up and out, and went out past Tesco, then picked up the canal to head eastwards along the canal.
I went east as far as the far end of Linlithgow Golf Club, then decided to try a little detour. There was a road that went south round the golf course, before returning to the canal at its western end. I do wish I had looked at a contour map before starting off, as this was a sudden and unexpected hill!
The road went past a field that appeared to have some kind of standing stone in it, but I can’t find any reference to it in the literature.
The road eventually returned to the canal towpath and I was able to finish my run off with a gentle easterly wind pushing me along.
Max elevation: 149 m
Min elevation: 60 m
So, that’s the end of this “stop back” week. If the past three weeks were “we’re getting serious now” then the coming three weeks are “are you serious?” The distance increases quite substantially and it is going to be a tough journey.
Let’s see how it goes!
