Summer Scenes & Widget Woes

After the gorgeous sun yesterday I was feeling a bit anxious about the impact of the hot sun on my long run plans this morning. This is my very favourite training session of the week and I had hoped to be able to do 14m from Silsden; setting out early to avoid the midday heat. The day was the most beautiful and glorious that I can remember for ages; the scenery was superb under the azure sky and everywhere looks so lush. To add to the feelgood morning there were lots of tiny ducklings and cygnets out for a swim with their mums and dads; adding a general fluffy feel to the world. I set out at a very cautious pace in case the heat got to me later on but felt easy on my feet all the way so decided to build in the extra mile to make it 15. The splits returning from the turn were faster than was sensible in view of the race next weekend; I was running as I felt which is very, very bad (I get a bit carried away on my own). I still stayed within HR Zone 3 most of the way and overall, it was a good, sensible average at 7.24 pace (Garmin Connect -Player for Silsden 15). Readers may have noticed the disappearance of my whizzy Garmin Widget. The recent upgrade of the Garmin Connect site has messed my fancy widget up - I'm hopeful it can return soon; once the updated code arrives from Chris Genius.

Pottered about this afternoon with M, thinking about our friends doing Edinburgh in the heat today. What a day to be running a marathon. We ambled about walking on along the river in Ilkley ready for an ice-cream. OMG! The place was overrun; have never in my life seen the river so full of fluorescent inflatable things and gangly young men in England shorts. We tried our best to evade the crowds but there was no escape. We will in future avoid the river on sunny days.

In summary, I'm really chuffed with this first step up to full training. I've managed a good mileage for the week including VO2, hill work and a speed session as well as my long run. I'm feeling tired in a good way and very 'up' for more next week. My hunger to train hard has definitely returned and I'm already starting to scan the calendar for forthcoming races. I think I'm back to business.