I’ve been at Mum and Dad’s doing their Christmas decorations today, including this gorgeous tree – I think it’s one of the nicest they’ve had over the last few years.
It always properly feels like Christmas is nearly here when I decorate Mum and Dad’s tree! Not very long to go now… though it’s going to be a busy couple of weeks.
Back to rejoin Geth in Newcastle tomorrow. I hear he’s wrapped my Christmas presents now! 🙂
Just a mile today…
…because I started an eight-week 10k training programme today and the first day of the plan was a rest day! Intervals tomorrow. I’m planning to do this eight-week programme twice during the winter – the first will finish with a 10k race on 6th December (there’s a small local COVID-secure one I’d like to do, but if restrictions get worse and/or it’s called off for any reason then I can always sign up to another virtual), then I’ll have a break from focused training over Christmas, then I’ll start the programme all over again in January for another 10k race attempt around late February / early March. This will be the first winter since 2017/2018 that I’m not training for a spring marathon, so I’m taking advantage of the extra time – I really want a sub-hour 10k race result this next year. I managed a 1:03ish split during the Virtual GNR (because I went out far too fast!) so I know it’s perfectly possible with the right training.
We had a great weekend, with Geth running his longest run of the year on Sunday – he’s aiming for his first marathon in either autumn 2021 or spring 2022 and likes to build up the distances gradually, so his big project was to manage a 30k run this year. All achieved and he’s back on easy running for the winter.
In non-running news I am starting to get very excited about Hallowe’en. I think I will probably decorate the house at some point in the next week! I need to tidy up a bit first as the living room is still full of stuff from my decor project. Said project is on schedule to be completed and up on the wall around the first week of November – I’m just waiting on a couple more things to arrive in the post.
Hoping for a nice productive day tomorrow as there’s a lot I want to get done this week.
Today’s earworm playlist:
Starship – ‘We Built This City’
Four more laps today…
…which went really well. Hoping that the last four days of multiple run training go just as swimmingly! Nine days until marathon/challenge day…
Work has been really busy this week so I’m really glad it’s the weekend! I’ve not really had the energy to do much in the evenings the last few days so I’m looking forward to having a couple of afternoons for catching up with stuff around the house (including the last bit of my decor project… I hope!).
Running vlogs over the weekend, will next update properly on Monday.
Today’s earworm playlist:
The Smiths – ‘Please, Please, Please, Let Me Get What I Want’
Carter USM – ‘Prince In A Pauper’s Grave’
Queen – ‘One Vision’
A two-miler today…
…and it was nice doing a different route to my 1.2-mile lap! That’s the last chance I’ll have for over a week, though, as multiple run training starts again tomorrow.
I also went out for a long walk this afternoon, as I’ll be running and working for the rest of the week so will be a bit too busy for walks. It was perfect September weather – lovely and sunny but not too hot while walking, and it was a really nice route too. I managed to photograph some red phone boxes I’d spotted while out with the social run group a few weeks ago, so look out for those in future Phone Box Thursday posts 🙂
A little more time spent indoors tomorrow, and hopefully I’ll be able to share my finished decor project (as far as it can be finished right now!).
Today’s earworm playlist:
Vangelis – ‘Chariots Of Fire’
Gunship – ‘Rise The Midnight Girl’
Sacre – ‘The London Marathon [Theme From The Trap]’
I did another four mile(ish)-long laps today…
…and I’m still feeling quite strong out there, although I have to say I’m a bit tired tonight!
I had a day off work today because I’m slightly ahead of schedule. I’ll get back to it tomorrow. I did do another frame for my decor project though. Four down, two to go!
It’s really interesting practising my multiple run training, but I have to say I’m looking forward to Sunday when I’ll be back to one short run per day for a couple of days.
Here in the north-east, we’re going back into lockdown from midnight tonight. A couple of friends have popped round to deliver/collect gaming stuff for Geth this evening, as that won’t be allowed from now on – no meeting up with other households. Pubs will still be open until 10pm, though, so I’m not sure how they’re going to police it. While it is worrying, it hopefully won’t last for more than a couple of weeks, and it won’t really affect me and Geth anyway because we’ve not really poked our noses out of lockdown to begin with. We won’t be able to meet up with friends for runs, but most of our running was going to be solo for the next few weeks anyway.
Just some quiet running by myself by tomorrow then… but that’s what I was planning on doing anyway!
Today’s earworm playlist:
The Knack – ‘My Sharona’
Timecop1983 and Primo – ‘My DeLorean’
Another set of multiple miles today…
…and so far it’s feeling really good. It’s not tiring me out or putting too much pressure on my legs, and I’m feeling a lot more confident that I’ll be able to keep going with it every hour on challenge day. I’m giving myself two hours between runs while doing this training this week, and after I’ve had a few days off at the start of next week, I’ll be practising with one hour between runs in order to replicate what I’ll be doing on the day.
In between runs, I’ve been getting on with my day job project and my decor project, which are the two other main things I’ve got going on this week. I’m really looking forward to being able to share the decor project at the weekend, once it’s all up on the wall!
Another near-identical day tomorrow. I’m (genuinely) excited!
Today’s earworm playlist:
Sacre – ‘The London Marathon [Theme From The Trap]’
Queen – ‘Bicycle Race’
Some multiple run training today…
…and it’s going to be one of those weeks where every day is the same, in a good way. I’ve got a day job project that will last until next week, I’ll be doing multiple run training every day until the weekend, and I’ve got a house decor project that I’m working on every day as well. As such, my updates won’t be very exciting for the next few days, but I’ll be very content!
Today’s earworm playlist:
Mark Knopfler – ‘Local Hero’
Sacre – ‘The London Marathon [Theme From The Trap]’
Carl Orff – ‘Gassenhauer’
An extremely gentle recovery run this morning…
…and then I spent the rest of the day doing some admin, planning out my work for the week and making the first of my running memorabilia collage frames!
I’ve also been doing a lot of recovery yoga – not the YouTube videos as I don’t want to do anything too strenuous right now, but instead just getting onto my mat and doing all my favourite stretches that help with my aches and pains, along with some foam rolling. I’ll probably do this for another day or two before getting back to ‘Yoga with Adriene’.
Back to work proper tomorrow – it will be interspersed with a few runs as I’m doing my 24-hour challenge training again this week.
Today’s earworm playlist:
The Knack – ‘My Sharona’
Sacre – ‘The London Marathon [Theme From The Trap]’
Toni Braxton – ‘Unbreak My Heart’
Pink – ‘Raise Your Glass’
And a bonus track that Geth was humming earlier:
Mark Knopfler – ‘Local Hero’
One last long-ish easy run today…
…and now the next few days will just be gentle recovery mile-long runs in order to save my legs for the Virtual GNR on Sunday. I’m getting really excited now!
Other than my run and my yoga session, I’ve just spent today doing a bit of work and sorting out some pre-race admin. Same again tomorrow!
Today’s earworm playlist:
Toni Braxton – ‘Unbreak My Heart’
Elvis Presley – ‘It’s Now Or Never’
And a couple of bonus tracks that Geth was humming earlier:
The Lancashire Hotpots – ‘The Technical Support Song’
Eiffel 65 – ‘Blue (Da Ba Dee)’
Another short run today…
…followed by a nice walk in the sunshine. I’m really happy with my daily routine at the moment. I’m usually done with running/walking/yoga by noon, and then I can crack on with day job work/admin in the afternoon and be done by eight or nine at night so that I can relax for a couple of hours before bed. I’m not at all a morning person, but strangely, I have turned out to be a morning exerciser – I feel very unsettled on days when I have to do it in the evenings – so keeping to a more traditional nine-to-five schedule for work and then running afterwards just wouldn’t work for me at all.
Tomorrow will be busy as I’ve got a couple of clients with tight deadlines at the moment. It looks like I’ll be working over the weekend as well, which is often the case at this time of year, but I’m really grateful that the work is coming in, as it looked for a while like September might be quieter than usual.
Today’s earworm playlist:
Carl Orff – ‘Gassenhauer’
Vangelis – ‘Chariots Of Fire’