I got over to the Malverns mid morning and set out with the intention of bettering my last run 26 days ago. The wind was stronger than I expected but other than that conditions were good. The splits, that I had so carefully calculated and written down last night, remained on the piece of paper on the table in my living room - bloody waste of time that was. I could recall just one split, 62 minutes to the Worcestershire Beacon on the way out and the total time 2:24.
I found it hard going and didn't feel I was going very well. Thoughts of it being a disappointing run very quickly started forming in my mind. I kept going but it never felt good. As I headed over Pinnacle Hill, the distance I had to cover and the hills in between I had to climb to reach the Worcestershire Beacon looked impossible to achieve the 62 minute split. I dug in and pushed on, not really believing I could do it.
Impossibly I seemed to eat up the ground between there and Summer Hill - that's the hill before the Worcestershire Beacon. As I started the climb to Summer Hill I realised I could probably make the hour after all - and so I did. Buoyed by the fact I was going alright I pushed on. Despite being out of the comfort zone I was feeling more positive that it was going to be a good run after all.
As I neared the Hereford Beacon on the way back I began to realise I would be well inside the time from last time. I should add that last time's run was 400m longer due to parking in a different car park but I adjusted the target time accordingly. The big question was by how much...
I got back to the car in 2:14. A full ten minutes quicker than last time (adjusted for distance). Route distance today was 22.5km with 1170m ascent. An improvement of 22 seconds per kilometre average pace. Really pleased with that.
I found it hard going and didn't feel I was going very well. Thoughts of it being a disappointing run very quickly started forming in my mind. I kept going but it never felt good. As I headed over Pinnacle Hill, the distance I had to cover and the hills in between I had to climb to reach the Worcestershire Beacon looked impossible to achieve the 62 minute split. I dug in and pushed on, not really believing I could do it.
Impossibly I seemed to eat up the ground between there and Summer Hill - that's the hill before the Worcestershire Beacon. As I started the climb to Summer Hill I realised I could probably make the hour after all - and so I did. Buoyed by the fact I was going alright I pushed on. Despite being out of the comfort zone I was feeling more positive that it was going to be a good run after all.
As I neared the Hereford Beacon on the way back I began to realise I would be well inside the time from last time. I should add that last time's run was 400m longer due to parking in a different car park but I adjusted the target time accordingly. The big question was by how much...
I got back to the car in 2:14. A full ten minutes quicker than last time (adjusted for distance). Route distance today was 22.5km with 1170m ascent. An improvement of 22 seconds per kilometre average pace. Really pleased with that.
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