Over the hill

A.M. Beautiful sunny weather, rather than run in the woods me and my wife drove out a little to run in open farm land. A pleasant wavy route, I started slowly and gradually worked the pace down. I noticed when I tried to run any faster than 4:30/k it caused me to start coughing up some of the crap that is still in my lungs so that last 6k was stuck on the 4:30 pace. Total 16,3k in 1:17:02, av pace 4:44/k, 7:36/mi.

A.M. Long run time again on a dull and dark morning. I've felt out of sync throughout Mar with holiday and then some sickness so starting from today I want to get back to some steady consistent running. I ran by feel settling into a comfortably hard pace, today that was about 4:35-4:40/k. This was fine until km23 when I hit the hills on the way back. The pace dropped to about 4:55/k, I tired and couldn't get back into the same rhythm and so the next 10k turned into a bit of a slog. I was accompanied by light rain showers the last 8k which was actually quite refreshing. The last couple of k was downhill, which was a treat and fairly easy to hit 4 min pace. Not a great run, nevertheless another long run down. Total 35,5k in 2:48:21, av pace 4:45/k, 7:38/mi.

A.M. Nice and warm 6°C (43°F) temp, short and easy recovery run on woodland trails. Total 12,1k in 1:01:52, av pace 5:07/k, 8:14/mi.

P.M. At last light evenings, easy pace run, more or less a reversal of this mornings route. 6 x 100m strides to finish. Total 11,5k in 55:23, av pace 4:49/k, 7:45/mi.

A.M. Cool and pretty windy. Goal was 4 x 2k with 1/2k rec at 4:00/k. Warmup was 5k at an easy pace, then the 2k's as follows: 1. 8:00, 2. 8:08, 3. 8:12, 4. 8:07. Cooldown for a couple of k. Missed my target but it did blow some cobwebs away. Total 16,6k in 1:14:14, av pace 4:28/k, 7:12/mi.

P.M. Short distance hill run with 3 circuits around the top before jogging back down. Windy and cool. Total 10.2k in 50:44, av pace 4:59/k, 8/mi.

A.M. Cold, wet and windy for a med-long run on woodland trails with as many hills as I could cram in which I think ended up as six. Bärlauch (Bear's garlic) is coming through in the woods giving a nice wiffy aroma to accompany the run. In England it is simply called Wild Garlic, the German name is a little more inventive stemming from the days when bears where present in the woods and dug up the roots to eat. It is back in fashion in German cookery and Bärlauch recipes abound. Total 25,3k in 2:05:47, av pace 4:58/k, 8min/mi.

A.M. Cool and misty for this mornings trail run. Recovery pace and with some hill bounding. Total 12k in 58:57, av pace 4:55/k, 7:54/mi.

P.M. A little warmer this evening and dry, horrible wintry weather predicted for the weekend so I took the opportunity to get out again and enjoy the good conditions. Hilly trail run w/ 6 x 100m strides to finish. Total 13k in 1:04:51, av pace 4:59/k, 8:02/mi.

A.M. I was sat eating my porridge this morning, looking out of the window at the pouring rain thinking this is going to be a character building run. I drove the car out a little to run in a different area, surprise, surprise – the only car in the woodland carpark. I reluctantly got underway, 5k warmup on very muddy horsey trails, then 8k fartlek. This was enjoyable, shifting through all the gears on short and long stretches purely by whim. Followed up with a 2k steep hill climb which was a killer. By now I was really cold and wet through, I took a quicker way back for the last 5k along a country road passing a farmhouse with a handpainted sign outside „Holzofenbrot" (wood oven bread), I could smell the woodsmoke and imagined the family inside snug and warm around the fire. Got back to the car, grabbed my nice clean dry towel out of the boot which my frozen hands promptly dropped into the mud…growl. Total 20k in 1:31:38, av pace 4:35/k, 7:22/mi