Bus run

So, today had a crazy run. I am doing an internship and was going to take the buses home. I came to the bus stop, and one bus arrived at the right stop. It had the right number, and all so I stepped on. It was going the wrong way, I discovered pretty quickly. So, I stepped off at the first stop.

Now, I could decide to walk across the road to the right stop. Wait 30 min for the next bus home. I had missed the one I had wanted to take. Another option popped up in my head. 

"Hey, it is almost 30 minutes till the next bus, and I got a 30-minute run planned today".

Hmm. I just started to run. Since getting my new watch, Garmin's Vìvoactive 4, I always have my running watch on. I also had on a regular school backpack, in fake leather, but not made for running. On my feet were an old pair of running shoes. I had a big knitted scarf on, "nice" trousers, and a regular jacket. And I just started to run. I tried to tighten the backpack while running since I wanted it to bounce less. 

A funny thing was that my watch kept bugging me that I was running too fast most of the time. I tried to keep it slow, and surprisingly enough, it went really well. I followed the bus route and checked my watch and the bus schedule to make sure I did not miss the next bus. In the end, I ran up and down a small road three times to even out the 30 minutes. I did not dare to run to the next stop, just in case.

The photo is taken from the bus I did catch.

The run surprised me ins several ways. 

1. It went a lot better than I initially thought.

2. That I did it at all.

3. How in the world did I get the idea?

Today's run: 4,3 km in 30 min.

Gear: normal work clothes after a day at an internship at a primary care office, including a regular backpack.

 

10k

10k. My dream and wish for today. It was to be a 65 min run. I really wanted a 10 km, but I knew it would stretch the time. My legs felt better after having worn the compression tights last evening. They were not as stiff as usual. That was nice.

I got a 10k round I really like outside the village. It goes on winding country roads. A bit up and down through a forest. The last bit is on a bike path, so straight and flat. 

I decided to try my 10k round and see how it went. I suspected it would be a bit short due to me walking the beginning, so it might even out. It was drizzling when I went out, but not too bad. After I took the photo at about halfway, it started to snow. What? Sure, I know it's April and it was about 2 C when I went out. But snow? A runner I met commented on the weather. Usually, no one talks of the runners I meet.

I came home, having run 10k to get home as quickly as possible. I was wet and cold, but I did a 10k. Woot!

Today's run: 10 km in 69 min.

Shoes: The pink Sauconys since my heel is bugging me a bit after Friday.

 

Endurance

This run was tough. My legs were not in it. I bought new pairs of shorts and tights from X2U to see if they can help with the legs. Felt weird going out in shorts in April, in 8 C degree weather. But I did, and it worked great. I got a muscle in the back of the left leg bugging me, but today it was every damn muscle in the legs. Not fun.

My goal was to go slow and not think about distance. Selected a pretty flat stretch, but of course, the one small uphill made my legs cringe. They can really hurt if they want to.
 

The weather was glorious, and I took the route by the beach. I love running there. Looking out over the sea. Bliss.

Today's run: 6 km in 41 min

Shoes: the pink Saucony Ride 13.

Hill workout

Today was laden with anxiety. It was another hill workout, and after last week I was so anxious. I decided to do it and take it easy. Not push the pace as the program said but just do the hill as noted timewise. Debated between last week's hill and the one I finally choose. 

It was to be eight repeats of 1:30 min each. Ugh. I ran to the hill and had to do a small detour to make it fit with the watch's program. The watch gets preloaded from Trainingpeaks. It's really neat. The way the coaches, the program and Trainingpeaks work together is great for me.

The repeats went as I hope slow, but I did them without gasping for breath. That was my goal for today. Felt good.

Today's run: 8 km in 55 min

Shoes: The grey Saucony Ride 13

 

Tempo run

 

Because of my troubles, I decided to follow today's workout plan to the point. It consisted of 4 x 6 min with a faster pace. Usually, I would go faster from the beginning but not today. I followed the plan and it felt really good. Beautiful weather and it is fun getting to fun further now than a month ago. I'm getting there. 

Today's run: 7,5 km in 45 min

Shoes: Nike X Light pink (72 km so far) I don't like these shoes really. They seem to mess with my left heel.

Endurance

Endurance day. To help with keeping my pace down, I decided to run a familiar loop. To get out of this fatigue phase, I am to run slow and not train too hard. 

I decided to use the set pace on my watch as a guide and not look at my heart rate. This seemed to work better for me. I had no problem in any inclines at all. It felt good running around the village listening to Oprah's thoughts. I learn a lot from her. 

There will be no change if you do not decide.

As with my running, where I push too hard now. This can result in that I have to give up running. Or I can choose to listen to my body and others wisdom. They can show me what I can do wisely. Sure, I need to back off pace-wise for now but, I will gain in kilometres run. The book is finished now, so I'm looking for another one. Maybe one by Gary Zukov. We will see.

Today's run: 6,5 km in 45 min

Book: What I know for sure by Oprah Winfrey

Shoes: pink Saucony Ride 13 (40 km so far)

 

Hallandsleden Fjärås

Drove to Naturum by Fjärås Bräcka to get som trail fun. I decided to follow Hallandsleden north towards Hjälm. The goal was to run 30 minutes one way, turn around and go back. The first thing that happened, was that I discovered that it was a very windy day. This was challenging since I was running along the ridge. It almost pushed me off the path.

After a bit more than one kilometre, the trail turned into a forest. It was beautiful. My body was still fighting to run, but I really wanted to. But almost as soon as I came into the forest did I run into trouble. It was the hills again. I ended up walking up every one of them. The last one right after the turn around was lethal. I do not think anyone runs up it. I certainly did not.

I am very happy I went, but I was so lightheaded when I came back to the car. I sat awhile and caught my breath. After this run, I found out that I might be suffering from fatigue. Explained a lot, so from now on I will try to stay slow. Run slow to run at all. Sounds good to me.

Today's run: 8 km in 63 min.

Shoes: grey Saucony Ride 13 (434 km so far)

 

Endurance

I was not feeling it today. Everything felt hard, and I did not like how it went yesterday. One thought I had was that it was allergies, and that was why it felt so tough. We got allergy season right now in Sweden. I decided to to the loop with the forest road I rediscovered Wednesday for fun. Try to get some positive vibes back into the running. 

Today's run: 6 km in 40 min

Shoes: pink Saucony Ride 13

Strength endurance NOT

 

Today was a bitch. It was hill repeats and repeats to be pushed through. I did not manage them. The first made me feel very lightheaded, almost that I would collapse. My running mate commented it sounded like I did not get enough oxygen. I tried the second one too, but I had to walk somewhere around half of the interval. After that, I decided to just do an endurance run and take it easy.

At the top of the hill, I asked my mate if he knew the trails in the small forest on the hill. He did not, so we took a detour down to the village so he could experience them. There are only short trails there since it is a small forest on the hillside in the middle of the village where we live. He thought it was so cool running trails in the middle of the village.

The run was supposed to have seven hill repeats. I managed to push on the last two on the flat in the end. After this I checked in with the coaches I can access through the program. I got a really good one helping me out when I need it. It took a few days, but it seems that since it is a progressive training plan I might just be fatigued. Apparently, it will pass, but I need to make sure I do not push too hard. 

Today's run: 6,3 km in 43 min

Shoes: grey Saucony Ride 13

Accidental trail

Endurance run was on the table. I walked out the door, not knowing which way to run. I ended up going towards the train station and up a hill. One idea was to go up the hill and then follow a gravel road at the top to see how far I came this time before turning around. I did the same a few weeks ago. 

On the way up the hill, I saw a path into the forest on the left. "Oh, look a path. I wonder where it goes." Off I went, and it ended up being a very short trail because it became a deer path very quickly and then I turned back to the road to continue upwards. 

Just as I crested the hill, I saw a forest road on the right, and I remembered having followed it before. I thought I knew where it ended, so I decided to follow it. This time it went better. I followed the road, and it became a really nice forest trail after a while. It ended at the end of another gravel road I know well.

I followed that gravel road back to the main road. From there I turned homeward. It was a good run. The trail section went slow, of course, but it was fun. Sometimes, one just needs to follow one's nose.

Today's run: 6 km in 46 min 

Shoes: Nike X Light pink

Tempo run

I decided to run differently today. Instead of pushing, I would follow the speed recommendations of my watch. I have a training plan from MyProCoach that seems to work well for me. There is one problem, I push too hard. I want too much, and I want it now. Because I need it. So, today I would back off a bit. Let the watch tell me what to do and follow it. 

Tempo run: The tempo parts were to be kept at 6:00-6:15 and, I followed that. It felt good. I did great. While running, I listened to a book (see below). In one essay, my eyes were opened.  I realised that I do not know myself. What do I love, and what do I want to do in my life? I love to run, and I want to keep running for the rest of my life. That I know for sure.

Directly after the run, I sat down and wrote about this. I understand now that where I am in my life and my low self-esteem has made this happen. I need to find myself. Running and books are a great combination.

Today's run: 7,5 km in 47 min

Book: What I know for sure by Oprah Winfrey

Shoes: the grey Sauconys

Endurance

Endurance on the agenda today. A 40 min one. I had not decided where to run when I walked out the door. It took a while for me to decide. Finally, I went for a bike path that goes to the next village. It is as the photo shows, and it felt good for the soul. Right foot, left foot therapy, as Nita Sweeney says.

Made scones for lunch, and they are so good with apricot marmalade and cheese. I really want to give up cheese, but it is so tough. My dream is to be the vegan young mom the kids say I want to be. The only correct thing is the mom word. 😂

Today's run: 6 km in 40:30 min.

Today's shoes: grey Saucony ride 13.

Listening: nope.

 

Short endurance

 My body was heavy today. Breathing felt hard too, but I suffer from allergies as well. The run was just a 30 min endurance. It is a recovery week, and it always feels weird going back to such short runs after having had a one-hour long one the week before. My heart is heavy, and I do not know where my relationship will go. Decided to stick to 30 min and not stretch the run to 5 km. Follow the plan.

Later my kids cut my hair shorter. Feels good and it was fun letting them do it.

Today's run: 4,4 km in 30 min.

Today's shoes: the trusty grey Saucony Ride 13 (over 400 km now!).

Speed workout

Today's workout was about speed. I did not feel up for it, but the workout was an easy one. The beginning went well, but somewhere around the middle, things started to go haywire. I realized something about the past weekend I had not noticed then. I got very upset. It concerns my relationship. 

The run should have been easy, only consisting of three short intervals. The last one I had a hard time finishing. I cried the whole way home. That evening my relationship blew up.

Running helps me work with stuff in my life. It is one of the few places where I can grieve my mother, for example. The problem is that it can help me see things in a new light. This can both be good and bad.

Today's run: 5,4 km in 35:30 min.

Shoes today was my pink Saucony Ride 13.