Saturday 1st - NRC: 8K Run

Yesterday I spent some time with the Footpath app and plotted a route that was around 8k in length. I managed to create a circuit that took in four different green spaces including a park that I haven’t run in before (tho I often walk in it).

This morning the sun was shining, the sky was blue, it was 13 degrees and off I went. I deliberately ran slowly. By the time I got to one of the parks Parkrun was happening and so I got myself out of the crowd as soon as I could and deviated from their route. I found one part of my run harder to negotiate due to the restricted width of the path and got smacked in the chest by a guy taking his coat off without checking around him for people nearby. Other than that though my run was mishap-free and I finished happily having achieved three firsts.

First 1 hour run. First 8K run. First 5-mile run.

Tuesday 4th - GoodGym #14

My legs felt heavy this evening. I’m not sure if that’s because of my long run on Saturday or because I haven’t hydrated or eaten particularly well today.

The task was helping three of the local councillors for Hanover in various ways - painting, litter picking, and weeding. I paired up with Pippa and headed off armed with litter pickers and a couple of bags - one for rubbish, one for recycling.

Thursday 6th - 5k lunchtime run

I’m going out after work this evening, so no running time this evening. Instead, I went out at lunchtime. It was sunny and warm and glorious. I couldn’t face doing a 5k along the seafront which, although quicker, is a bit dull and monotonous. So instead I ran down to Victoria Gardens, up to and around the Level and then back down to Pavilion Gardens before running along the seafront home. A nice day to be outside.

Saturday 8th - NRC: Five-mile run

My run today was a bit later than I’d usually be out on Saturdays as I waited until after we’d come back from taking the dog to hydrotherapy. I’ve swapped on to a [10k run plan(https://healthunlocked.com/bridgeto10k/posts/140993502/welcome-to-ju-jus-magic-running-plan-%F0%9F%92%A5%F0%9F%92%A5%F0%9F%92%A5-lets-run-%F0%9F%98%8A) after completing the 60-minute plan and am starting at week 5. The long run for week 5 in this plan is 8k, which is effectively the same as last week. This seemed like the best place to start. So today I repeated the run of last Saturday, only later in the day. This meant that my final mile - through the North Laine - was more challenging as I had to step around shoppers. I also seemed to be a quarter of a mile or so short as I only finished my run at the end of my street. Still not sure how that worked out but my cool-down walk was somewhat curtailed as a result.

As with last Saturday, there was a cheeky afternoon nap!

Tuesday 11th - GoodGym #15

The final GoodGym for a while as we have no run leader and our amazing interim volunteer leader has a new job Hopefully there’ll be a new leader coming soon, and in the meantime, I think we’ll be using our WhatsApp group to organise runs and the like.

Today’s task was at a place I went to back in the early days of GoodGym - maybe my 3rd. It is in deepest, darkest, Kemp Town beyond the hospital. I didn’t write much about the run last time

My longest GoodGym run to date. That is why I didn’t do a Couch to 5k run yesterday. I didn’t do too badly, but we ran up that killer hill again. At least we got to run down it again at the end of the evening.

But I do remember that I ended up at the rear of the pack walking a bit and being a bit cross with myself. No such problem this time. I’m making progress and it’s really good to have been able to compare my former self against my current self and know that the training is paying off.

Thursday 13th - Post work 5k

After taking the dog for a quick walk around the park I made the most of the remaining light by running off to St Ann’s Well Gardens, doing a lap or so before heading off towards Palmeira Square, Adelaide Crescent and the seafront home. Or rather to Taj where I picked up a curry for dinner!

According to Strava, this was my second-fastest 5k. Which isn’t bad for a run with a few small hills and the like. I also finished my latest virtual walk - the North Coast 500 - while running.

Saturday 15th - NRC: 9K run

Following mostly the same route as the 8K runs of last week and the week before, but with an additional bit of green space tacked on. A more pleasant run as it turned out as there was less running through the shoppers in the North Laine tho I did have to contend with North Street. By the time I’d finished, I’d done 9.5K in 1 hour and 12 minutes. My longest and furthest run to date.

Monday 17th - Post work 4k

As there’s no GoodGym this week and I’m out on Tuesday evening I swapped my running days around. Making today a running day. I had an Alexander Technique lesson at lunchtime so it had to be post-work. Sunset was a little after 6 pm and as I ran through St Ann’s Well Gardens I could see a glorious sunset above the trees. The light levels soon dropped and no artificial lights came on in the park so I headed out and along the streets home.

I’d managed to include a few hills into today’s run which was good training but means I have heavy legs now!

Wednesday 19th - Post work 5k

We took Skitters out to the park before it got dark and I ran on from there. I’m still working out which routes will be well lit so today ran around Victoria Gardens (reasonably good), Pavilion Gardens (not so good), and then along the seafront (very good). A decent run that wasn’t all seafront based.

Today I followed these stretches after my run.

Friday 21st - 9.5k run

A repeat of last week’s long run. But on a Friday morning. We’re planning on doing some work in the garden tomorrow so today was the day. It was quieter in terms of other runners, but busier in terms of traffic.

Today I ran using the NRC app to track my distance and give me audio notifications of distance and speed while listening to podcasts. Which worked quite well and helps me keep on top of the backlog of podcast episodes I seem to be collecting.

This is the end of Week 7 of JuJu’s Magic 10k plan. One more week to go. When I should be able to run 10k.

Monday 24th - 4k run

This was more like 4.5k by the time I’d run closer to home. I’d been doing a bit of reviewing of my recent runs and especially my heart rate and realised that, at least according to my Fitbit, I was spending most of my run in the “Peak” zone rather than “Cardio”. So on tonight’s run, I monitored my watch and my heart rate and kept it in the right zone. It reduced my speed quite dramatically but was a much easier run.

Tuesday 25th - GoodGym #16

We still don’t have an area activator or an available run leader but one of my fellow GoodGymers organised a task for us this evening. We had to make our own way there - tho I did meet some others at Victoria Statue to make our way together - but The Gardener cafe had lots of tasks to keep up occupied. I spent much of the evening cleaning the underneath of tables and chairs.

Thursday 27th - 5k run

As with Monday’s run, I was focused on keeping my heart rate in the cardio zone. So my run took longer, but I didn’t find that a problem this evening. I tried a new route this evening, looking for good lighting. It was ok. It was still really warm, and I was overdressed - wearing a reflective gilet over my running top.

Saturday 29th - 10k run

I used the Nike Run Club 10k run to guide me as I tried to achieve my first 10k. I’d planned a route using the Footpath app. I still focussed on keeping my heart rate in the cardio zone which I achieved for 75% of the run - uphill sections were hard to regulate. I also included some non-pavement running in my route which I enjoyed. I managed to include St Ann’s Well Gardens (twice), Dyke Road Park, Hove Rec, Hove Park, and Three Cornered Copse so there was quite a decent amount of green space in my run as well. My Fitbit logged me as doing 6.76 miles which I reckon is over 10.8k. Achieved!