Not a shabby warm-up

I felt a bit poorly yesterday, slept really badly night before last and felt like I was coming down with something. Tasha pumped me full of fizzy Vitamin C and I just took it as easy as I could. On Sunday I'll be running in the Reading Half Marathon Corporate Relay (a last minute change as I had intended to run in the last XC meet of the season at Horspath), so that has been my focus. This week has been about preparing for Sunday.

I contemplated not running the Gallieo - I was feeling slow and treacly and I really didn't expect to be fast today; but I figured it would be a good opportunity to loosen up and get the body ready for Sunday.

So when we took off, I was surprised to feel quite light and to quickly leave behind the field on the first climb; I even had to slow-up as I was worried I was going too fast too. Apart from that I quickly found a smooth, easy rhythm and began to really enjoy just being out on my feet. As I got further into the run, I felt even better and the pace came – I just let it flow. By the end I was flying – taking in huge amounts of air and pushing hard on each step. All too soon I cross the line. 23’45”, 30” faster than my previous personal best.

It was an easy win. I was fortunate that Ian Mc wasn’t running – but that wasn’t what today was all about. It felt really great to bash my PB so soundly. It also gives me quite a target to beat next month!