Thursday 3 January 2013

What a difference 40 minutes makes

My programme for today specified "30-40 minutes, relaxed. Include hills". To be honest, this describes pretty much all the runs I've done over the last two decades, so I was actually quite looking forward to it! The only downside was that I had to do it before breakfast because the rest of the day was booked with housework (I needed to take the Christmas tree down) and a hospital appointment.
So, having donned a headtorch and as much reflective clothing as I could, I set off at 0755  for a nice relaxed run up the hills towards Potter Fell. It was cloudy and really dark, though with a lightening sky to the east and the promise of clearer weather. The sheep on the near fields were grey shadows, rim-lit paler white by the reluctant sun. The lane was running with rivulets of water and covered in run-off debris. It was a touch misty, which made the flashing orange lights of the dustcart (sorry, waste reduction and recycling vehicle) eerily huge and diffuse. The run was straightforward; one of those bog standard, 'let's just go for a run' - type runs. 20 minutes out, turn round and 20 minutes back. What was interesting was that, by the time I got home, I didn't need the headtorch, but I can't remember actually precisely when it became light enough to not need it.
It was certainly relaxed. My max heart rate was only 151 and the average 125. Must have been slower than I thought!
Oh, the hospital appointment confirmed I've got tilted optical discs with a bit of peripheral vision loss in the left eye, but normal intra-ocular pressure. I wonder if the running helps keep it down?

Smileyrating 7/10. As I said, bog standard.

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