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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!

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