Embrace Sports Woodland trail run and beach recovery run

I was looking forward to the woodland trail run. I’d done it twice previously and was determined to beat my pace from my previous attempts. The first time I did the woodland trail run, I fell quite badly on my first lap and the second time I did it, I thought I’d paced it well and then found out afterwards that I’d run slower than my previous attempt.

I decided that I would go out at a reasonably fast pace, but that I would try to maintain the same pace throughout. I also decided that I would only aim for 10 miles (rather than 15 like in previous years) as I was aware that it was the first full day of two weeks of full-on training.

It was a relatively warm day, but I felt comfortable and it seemed like my asthma was finally under control. There was a small group of runners just behind me and it was tempting to slow down and join in with their conversation. I knew that that would not help my run time. Until the final mile or so, I stayed just ahead. I kept pushing right to the finish and was delighted to see that I had completed the lap at a pace of 5:44/km. This pace was exactly 1 min/km faster than I managed in November 2013.

I stopped for a quick drink and stretch, before deciding to take the second lap at a gentler pace. I waited until Sally finished and then persuaded her that we should go for another loop, but this time at a sociable pace. It definitely wasn’t as fast as the first lap, but it was just as enjoyable.

There was a really positive mood by the end of the run. Some of the people who were training for a marathon ran 20 miles…

…whereas others fell over and were still smiling.

In the late afternoon, we went for a beach recovery run. Last year, I hated the beach runs, but this year I was feeling so much more positive.

Neil explained that we were going to run out for 12.5 minutes before turning and running back 12.5 minutes.

This photo shows just how much fun I was having. I really didn’t feel like I was having breathing problems and I wasn’t worried about my pace. I just wanted to enjoy it (although I was also taking care not to stand on any sea holly!)

Sadly, Stu started having leg problems, so although he was ahead of me for a long time, he had to stop and walk. This made me worried about him.

When we’d finished, the sea was conveniently close to act as an ice bath. 🙂

We then headed over to Linda’s, the beach-side bar, for some refreshments. The party crew were desperate for some margaritas. I just wanted a mango juice – mmmm mango!

What a great start to the week!

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