Skip to main content

Thank You For the Music

I don't often run listening to music but a couple of times this week, I've connected my fancy new Bluetooth headphones, turned up the volume and tuned out with my latest running playlist.

It always seems like the shuffle option knows exactly what song to play at what moment, either to make me smile, give me a sense of perspective or just make me run that little bit quicker when needed.

And today was no exception:

Life of Riley (The Lightning Seeds) - I've been very busy lately with work and other commitments. It's been difficult to find the time (or energy) for running. But when I do make the time, I never regret it. When the alarm went off this morning, it was tempting to snooze for a few more minutes. But a run always clears my mind - even more so when it's raining - so I got up, got ready and set out on my run. I still believe that in this world, we've got to find the time... 

Why Does It Always Rain On Me (Travis) -  after running up to Burslem for some volunteering at junior parkrun followed by a lovely mug of coffee this morning. I could easily have opted out on the second part of my long run plan. The café was warm, the rain was pelting down. But I zipped up my rain jacket, put my cap on and headed out into the park. I was soaking wet within minutes, my feet squelching through the puddles. But last week I ran through rivers, muddy fields and puddles and loved it. So even if it does always rain on me, what's a little bit of rain?



Foot of the Mountain (A-ha) - this one generally always pops up as I find myself at the bottom of a very big hill and it did again today. I've definitely been through a phase of avoiding big hills - or walking up them with an ultra-marathon mindset even on shorter runs. But you can't always live at the foot of the mountain... I need to keep on pushing on the ups and then I get to enjoy the downhills as well. So what it came to Waterloo Road (even though it is only a little hill and not a mountain), I didn't slow down as I have been doing recently and it turns out that was another Strava Segment PR too!



Patience (Take That) - I was running well and feeling good - I even clocked a sub-9 minute mile and picked up some PRs along the way (personal records on three Strava segments on the route to Westport Lake). It would have been easy to push on, add a couple of extra miles to my run. BUT... I really do need to be patient and build my miles up slowly, not push too hard and find myself injured or exhausted. Have a little patience.

Ready To Go (Replubica) - after a couple of months of tiredness and struggles, I feel like my running is on an upward trend. I'm looking forward to running, I'm adding extra sessions to my training (including zumba this week), I've entered a couple of races and I'm making plans, big plans, for next summer. I ran 8 miles today and I'm looking forward to running more miles next week. I feel like I'm back and I'm ready to go.

Let's see what my playlist picks out for me next week!

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Run

This latest blogpost is all about parkrun , which is an organisation which arranges free, weekly, 5km timed runs around the world. They have been taking place around the UK for several years and in Stoke-on-Trent since September 2011, when Hanley parkrun was held for the first time. Every Saturday morning, between 30 and 50 runners, plus volunteers and supporters gather in Hanley Park by the lake. When the fountains are turned on at 9am, the countdown to the start begins. The course takes us from the bottom of the park to the top and back (twice) and finishes by the bandstand just above the canal - it parkrun terminology, its a net uphill course. I love parkrun. I love the challenge of trying to improve my own time each week. So far this year, I've knocked about 2 minutes off my personal best and I'm really pleased about that. Each week, I feel like I can control my pace a lot better and the hills are not too big an obstacle to climb. The speedwork and hill trainin...

The Verdict

On Sunday, we said a sad farewell to Western Australia, as we flew from Perth to Auckland to begin the next part of our adventure. We've really enjoyed the three weeks spent in WA and packed quite a lot into our last weekend too. We had a day at the WACA, watching England against India in a one day international. Strangely for us, we actually got to see England win a cricket match... that didn't happen at all on our last trip to Australia in 2011. It was a steaming hot day on Perth for our cricket visit... The humidity was making it feel more like Columbo (according to Jon anyway, I've never been to Sri Lanka). I just knew it was hot. Our booked seats were in an uncovered stand but we managed to sneak our way undercover after about an hour of play. We were still hot but at least avoided sunstroke! Before play started, we were able to seek shelter from the heat with a vist to the cricket museum, a rabbit warren of a building that used to a private house. Each room was a trea...

Cool Runnings

I think I may have found a new passion... I know that running in the ice, cold and snow can be risky and you have to be careful for all sorts of reasons, but I've been really enjoying my running over the last week. I love being outside in the snow anyway, wrapped up against the cold, but the added dimension of running has been a new challenge that I'm relishing. Garmin Map of 1km of my snow run in Hanley Park! Last Monday was my first experience of snow-running... I rescued my trail shoes from where I'd discarded them after the final cross country event in Leek last December , wrapped myself up in lots of layers and ventured out. I ran along the canal to Hanley Park and just ran around in circles... making footprint patterns in the snow on the tennis courts, football pitches and cricket nets, plus one loop of the lake. It was fun... I wasn't worried about how far or how fast I was running, I was just running and enjoying it. I only ran a cou...