Recovery run, 6.75miles

I wasn't sure I'd be up for a run after yesterday's exertions but in the end I felt ok.

The legs were a bit tired but soon found themselves as I set off over to Aldwickbury. My cadence picked up on the downhill and from there the form was good.

It was an excellent day, no wind or rain, shame today wasn't the long ride. Doh.

Overall it was 6.75 miles, easy pace and felt good.

Recovery run, 6.75miles by kdmurray65 at Garmin Connect - Details

Was that Niall? 7.3miles

So I had a scary moment this morning when I thought I saw Niall walking down to the station. No chance of that, he's been eating toblerone for a fortnight and learning all the rules and regulations of living in Geneva.

So I took for an easy run along a route Niall enjoyed. Wheathampstead via the Swan Walk and then back to Harpenden via the detour up through the farms towards Mackerey End.
It was a real slog though. I made a hasty exit when the kids were joined by some friends for tea and left the house without taking enough fluid. I realised after a few miles I hadn't taken on enough calories over the day. By mile 3 I was feeling weary.

I made it home having covered 7.3 miles at 9.42 pace. That's just above walking pace! So it was straight to the kitchen for a litre of orange and the remains of the kids pasta.
I was planning a decent couple of hours on the road tomorrow but I'll see how I feel after a night's sleep.

New Year's Day, 8.1miles

The plan had been for a 13mile loop round Brocket Hall but I had to cut my run to an hour due to a sick family back at the ranch.

We were 6 for the 8am meet. Simon was back after a good few weeks, as was Niall who'd been in the DR. Darren joined for his first soiree and that left Paul, Dave and I making up the numbers.

Niall set off like a hare! We were strung out in 3 pairs of 2's but luckily by the time we headed up into the fields at the back of Batford he'd slowed and we regrouped.

I'd not been up there on a run before. It was crisp underfoot with the odd bit of ice but nothing too bad. The moon was up and providing an awesome picture in a clear blue sky.

We cut across fields and bridleways, then across Mid Herts Golf Course and out into Gustard Wood. At that point the lads continued to Brocket Hall and I returned home via Wheathampstead.

I took the infamous hill by Aldwickbury Golf Course. A year ago Niall and Dave took me up that and I nearly collapsed. Today I ran up it and accelarated at the top knowing that the recovery would come, and it did.

Overall 8.1 miles in 1.08. HR was z2/3 apart from a short Z4 on the hill. That is a mark of progress, not long ago any run with the lads was z4/5 all the way.

Its a Beautiful Day, 10.5miles

So I was working at home thinking I'd love to get out for a run when the phone goes, its Niall, he's working at home and is planning a lunchtime run. Ok, that's all it takes, quick change and I'm off down to his, the plan is to do the Wheathampstead loop which is around 6 miles. I'm already thinking I'll do a bit more and get it up to 10 if I can.

We're both in bright yellow tops, which is a bit loud for the locals but at least we don't get knocked down by the car coming round the corner towards us.

We set off at what Niall calls "chatting pace", its a bit quicker than normal for me on an easy run but he's entertaining me with stories and so I hardly notice we're bombing along.

We get to Wheathampstead doing about 8min/miles and then we head up the hill to Marshallswick. It's a Paul Savage loop and involves a good climb followed by a run across a ploughed field. From there its back to Batford and then Niall throws in a sprint from the River Lea to the corner shop on Station Road. I hit 4.40min/mile pace, which is flat out for me.

From there Niall headed home and I added the Cooters End Lane Loop. I was now trying to stay at around 9min pace but that was prooving tricky and I kept edging faster.

Got home in just over 80 mins with 10.5miles completed. Nice run after yesterday's rest day. Tomorrow is reps day and I'm already feeling the pain of the set of gutbusters to come.

Wheato Loop at Dusk

As darkness began to descend I made my way out towards Wheathampstead for an easy 6 mile loop. The plan was to keep the HR in zone 3 & 4 and to concentrate on good form and cadence.
The run down to Wheathampstead was done in the light, very uneventful except for what I thought was a horse coming up behind me on the Lea Valley path. Turned out to be a single runner listening to his i-pod but seriously pounding the ground on every footfall. It was scary and made me concentrate further on a light touch on each step.
Going up the hill to the fields was easy for once and on analysing the garmin I saw the HR had risen to 160 but then recovered to 140 almost immediately. I've heard Niall talk about this sort of thing but never had it happen to me. Very nice it is too.
I felt strong going along the top and struggled to keep my pace down as I thought back to the Running Fource 5 mile time trial.
From Wheathampstead the darkness fell quickly but being back on paths it was straightforward. Took the Station Road ascent instead of Crabtree Lane in order to hit the 6 miles.
Lovely run finished with 15 mins of stretching.