I was off work again today with annual leave so after a non alarm sleep we all got up. Joanne looked a bit better today and was up and about. Oliver just wanted to chill, so I popped to aldi and did a few jobs this morning. After lunch my mother in law kindly offered to do the ironing so I gratefully let her and went to fix a banister for Joanne's Grandparents.
The top support of the banister was coming away from the wall and with them both being in their 80s a stair tumble would be bad. I inspected the rail and one support came away from the wall, I was glad Id gone round! After an hour Id stripped the old fittings out and put some proper wall anchors in. Satisfied it wasn't going anywhere I came home and made tea.
After tea, I stripped and sanded the wooded kitchen worktops and re-oiled them. It had needed doing for weeks now, the top had gone a bit faded and scratched.
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| Like new! |
When it was all sorted and Oliver and Joanne were settled I ventured out into the driving wind and rain for an epic run, got home showered and wrote this before bed. (Sorry I got a bit carried away in the write up, well it was a fabulous run)
Running: 6.90miles 8:05mi/mile avg 55:47 min
It had been a really, really cold day so I put on a few layers tonight and a waterproof fluorescent jacket as it was pouring down and pitch black! After a wet warm up, waiting for my Garmin to break through the clouds for a signal, I set off. I didn't have much hope for a good run tonight. It was really windy, very dark and the rain was driving behind me, pretty miserable all round really. I made my way down to the prom using it as I always do for a warm up mile.
I had some good music on my ipod tonight to drown out the noise of the wind and a brilliant track came on as I started running. It sounds corny and cheesy but I've got the Rocky Album on my Ipod and the training montage music from Rocky IV came on, - you know the one where Drago is in the High tec gym and Rocky is in the mountains. Its a classic, electronic track that keeps on building the tempo and gets me going every time. Its got a great beat throughout it and I often imagine myself running up the mountain like Rocky and his trainer shouting "No Pain, No Pain" haha! I wish.
Anyway i took off down the prom with the elecronic theme pumping in my ears, my adrenaline spiked and I picked up pace. Ive not really done any speed work since I broke my toe but tonight I felt light and very strong as I ran. The prom is a great place for Fartlek running, its flat for over a mile with no roads to cross and Lampposts, seats and bins everywhere. These are important for way markers in Fartlek Running (fartlek means "Speed Play" in swedish i think) so I picked a lamppost half way and opened up the throttle. I could feel the pavement through my shoes and felt how my toes pushed off creating the momentum. I felt my arms driving my knees higher as I pumped them hard and my pace began to rise. I lifted my core in tight, open my chest, relaxed my shoulders and let my body do what it knows how to do. Run.
It was a wonderful feeling, running introspectively like this, my mind like an on board driving computer sensing all the feedback, adjusting systems to gain the maximum efficiency, to get everything out of my system. I loved it, my mind free, my mood soaring and the wind and rain a mere distraction. I hit the lamppost mark and slowed, breathing heavily but with a smile on my face. Again!, my body shouted and after another lamppost I hit the pace again until the end of the prom. I felt amazing, the blood was coursing through me and the steam was rising from my jacket. I was red hot and panting. I stopped and stripped off my gloves and buff and unzipped my tops to let some air in. I ran up to North Walney and donned my head torch ready for the trials.
The wind was driving the rain across me and the drops felt icy cold against my skin. I ran down the flooded path and turned south towards Biggar Bank. I was instantly hit by a very strong headwind which sent the rain horizontally straight in my face. The rain hurt as it made contact on my cheeks so I angled my deflector screens (tipped the peak on my cap!) and drove headlong into it. My world suddenly became a tunnel of rain, lit like stars by my head torch. It was like travelling through a very cold hyperspace and I had to push really hard against it. My breath quickly became laboured and my pace dropped. It felt like I was being held back by and unknown force, grabbing me from behind.
I drove deeper into my resolve and pushed on. As I made my way around the headland the wind really picked up, it seemed to challenge me - I bet you give in, Im gonna make you walk, give in and turn around it said, but something stirred in me, I accepted the challenge, put my head down and picked up the pace. I roared at the wind and the rain, something guttural, raw and from deep down. "COME ON" I shouted at the wind "is that all youve got" (I think Id get locked up if anyone heard me! haha). I started to try harder, pushing more and more, driving with my arms and cutting through the weathers onslaught. A smile breached my face and a great feeling came over me, the defiant child in me going against the grain.
I reached the beach path and my head torch seriously dimmed, signalling it was nearly dead, but I strode forward, quickening my pace even more, trying to get to to the end of the trail before the battery died. I reached my turn off at sandy gap but something in me wouldn't let me turn off out of the wind. I gambled with the battery life and ran on towards Biggar Bank. I was so enjoying the challenge and I wouldn't give in. After another mile my turn off came and yet again I pushed on further to Thorney Nook a mile away.
I though to myself this was great mental training for my forthcoming ultra, pushing forward when everything is trying to make you stop, I was resolute, rock solid and only going one way! I was in the zone, driving hard, my heart in my mouth squeezing everything out of my body, it was exhilarating. Every splash put a smile on my face and I laughed out loud as I ran through a deep part of the flooded beach path. Ive said it before but running in the wet turns me into a kid again. I reached the end of the path, totally out of breath or so I thought.
I turned around and instantly the barrage stopped, it lifted my body making me feel light and free. I dropped down onto the road as my head torch was about dead and ran along the road toward Biggar Bank. The distant lights reflected off the wet road surface in an amber haze, reminding me of an oil painting Id done years ago at school. Its bizarre how running makes me remember such odd memories, I must have been 15 when I painted it but I could remember every detail of it, of the street lights reflecting on the wet road and a solitary figure walking with an umbrella, of the strokes I used and even the smell of the classroom came into my head! If my life ever calms down I would love to get the oils out again and have a dabble. I could paint my adventures in running...now theres an Idea! I like it!!
Anyway back to the present, I felt my body straighten up, letting the air into the full expanse of my lungs, filling them with much needed oxygen. Id been hunched over slightly running against the wind so my intake of air was restricted. I became light again and kicked towards home, 1 mile to go, come on Lee kick it, keep pushing, keep driving, keep testing. I managed a sub 7 min mile at the end of tonight's run which is a big improvement and a sign of my fitness returning. Then if that lot hadn't been enough, I dared myself to a sprint finish down my street. I used to do this all the time, when I'm knackered after a run, I imagine I'm level with another runner with 100m to go in a big race and push for home. Ive never been in that position in an actual race but if I ever am, I'm ready for it haha.
I got home and had a really good and deep stretch, peeled off my soaking kit and jumped into the shower. There is nothing more satisfying than a red hot shower after a cold and wet run.
What an amazing, electrifying and satisfying run. I once read some where that challenging oneself beyond your limits makes you happy, I can certainly testify to that!
Food Diary
Breakfast:Nutribullet Smoothie: Beetroot, spinach, avocado, pineapple, cashew nuts, melon, blueberries and sunflower seeds
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| Super Beetroot Smoothie |
Homemade Sweet Potato and Carrot Soup with a GF Roll (soup from yesterday)
Dinner
2x GF Tacos with Mexican Pork strips topped with a pineapple, tomato, onion and coriander salsa
Piece of GF Sponge Cake
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| Tacotastic! |
1 x apple, nuts and seeds
Drinks:
Water, coffee and a Chocolate horlicks before bed!
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