July 4, 2013

Having been cheered by seeing a rabbit bounding across my path yesterday – I forgot this to mention in my post cereal discomfort – another heartwarming thing happened on my run today. A woman running towards me bid me a bright and bubbly “Morning”, I was so shocked that I only just had time to spit out a reciprocal “Morning” before she jogged merrily on.

I’m never sure of the etiquette when greeting other runners or if indeed there is one. On the odd occasion I have tried to venture a smile at other runners, only to be saddened when it isn’t returned, making me less inclined to do it again.

To be fair, many runners I see these days are wearing headphones and are probably lost in their own world. Even though I run without them, headphones that is, I have been know to run past people I know and not hear them calling to me as I have been transported to that meditative state that you hit when you completely zone out.

So, buoyed by the cheery woman this morning, I was inspired to keep a smile on my face and this definitely put a positive spring in my step. My average pace was 8:18 miles per hour, which, given that today included a couple of climbs, if I hadn’t had to stop to cross roads or dodge the odd dog I think I would be a lot closer to my desired time.

It’s really made me think about what a comfortable pace I’ve been running the marathon in previously and how, now I’ve had a go at really pushing myself that bit harder, I find that I can do it.

My problem now is that I’m not sure how I’m going to fit any training in over the next four days and given that my 10k is a week on Sunday, this is making me nervous. I might have to go for a six o’clock start. The idea is making me wince, I’m really not a morning person!

Today’s stats: 6.2 miles, 51:43