More long run lessons ...

... I think the first of which, is Grandad is too fast to do long runs with!

70.38/?

Febulous W2R3 *Joker Played*

This week has been a hell of a week, what with work and a concert last night.  I woke up this morning feeling like I'd done 10 rounds with Mike Tyson - and I would usually go back to bed and crash/read until after lunch, and then do my long run late afternoon.  However, as Grandad was driving back down south today, he wanted to go out early - we compromised on 10am.  Set out too hard, although it felt ok at the time, partly because it was difficult to pace against Grandad who is a much better/faster/seasoned runner than me.  Had to keep telling him to slow down because I couldn't keep up!

Was still feeling strong about 6 miles in, despite the detour we'd made because Grandad had mixed up a cycle path and a railway line on his OS Maps app (never mind that it was a route I do bits of reasonably often so didn't need his mapping).  The wind was building up and the rain was getting slightly worse, but really I was just getting a tad annoyed and feeling the effects both of the concert the night before, and the fast start. 

Changed plan in Leith, to take in a different path (and cut the run a bit short) but by that point I was really fed up and starting to feel a bit sick.  Ended up run-walking the last mile or so until we found the tesco that was my new finish point (1.6 miles short of the planned distance).  Stopped in for a coffee in costa, but (unusually) that just made me feel really sick.  It might have been the fast pace at the beginning, it might have been the after effects of overdoing it the rest of the week, but I was feeling a bit cross with myself.

HOWEVER, I then sat down and thought about it. I've had a cold all this week, and managed not to miss any work, or choir, and therefore have been on the brink of exhaustion.  I sacrificed my long lie so Grandad wouldn't be too late driving home. And, I only started running again just over a month ago.  I don't think I need to beat myself up about not quite managing to run 11 miles on a week when I've nearly dropped my other runs twice and have been feeling pretty under the weather. 

I do need to remember to go slower on the long training runs (I've deffo said that before), and to recognise that I really do not like running in the morning if I can help it.  I played my Jantastic joker on the excuse of the cold/flueyness and sheer exhaustion so I'm still on 100% (I would have got 83% anyway for this week without it which is better than nothing by a long shot).  Next week is hopefully going to be a bit less manic, and my long run drops back a bit, to acknowledge that I am upping my midweek run a bit.  

Onwards and upwards!