7-13 December 2020. “Zoom meeting.”

Hearing a relentless pitter-patter on the window when my alarm went off at 7:15am was enough for me to hit Snooze and think, “ah, forget it.” I was to have joined a few of my club’s runners for a long run – and was already slightly down on my mileage this week anyway – but it didn’t seem worth battling the elements which Google had already suggested weren’t going to be great. Forcing myself out for a slow slog at 10am, I was actually glad to have missed the long run! Dealing with it for an hour was just about bearable; the thought of 2-2½ hours of the torture… well, it would have been bearable, just not pleasant!

The other jogs this week went pretty nicely, what with my new trainers still performing well, and a new set of headphones capable of staying on my head to make the time pass by quickly (although, my pace also contributed to that!)

A better – even if colder – run was had on Thursday, a speed session with my club (wuth a new t-shirt, no less. Running is expensive). Four reps of one mile fast with approx 2 min jog cooldown, in a neighbourhood with houses resembling the one from Home Alone (in terms of decoration. Hopefully they’re not deathtraps), each rep kicking off with a notable incline. I’d intended to take it fairly easy, but gravitated towards the second-fastest group after the first rep.

Allowing the others to set the pace, I soon shook off the notion of taking it easy and chased down my rivals clubmates (shoutout to Sam and Brad for the company and being a windbreak!) But the real challenge came when I set the pace for the last rep. No sense of how to run conservatively, I set out about 15 seconds faster than normal but my pride had to maintain the pace!

Fortunately I managed it – even if I had to exhaustingly collapse against a lamppost afterwards!

Mileage for the year so far: 2,445. NO matter how tired I get, onward to 2,500!