Sedate lady running 11-17 Nov 2019 #amrunning #running

So this week I got more balance in terms of not thinking it was a good idea to do cardio 4 days in a row, but I didn’t manage to do any yoga. I will get there. And my steps weren’t very even, although I did walk more on the days I didn’t run (and one low-step day had a spin class) and I did reach my 70,000 total by the end of the week. So positive really. Oh, and I got horribly lost in the DARK one day.

Monday – Went to the Monday spin class to try that out. A  bit better for timing, in that it starts at 6.30 not 6.45 although it tailed off more gently as the teacher was doing  her next class at 7.30. It was a great one, though – Maria again, the older woman, and we got a good full body workout – plus I understood some of the moves a bit better.

3,340 steps however about 1,000 of them showed up during spin and I have checked a spin class equals about 9,000 steps.

Tuesday – I ran to my friend Ali’s house to collect some cheese she’d bought for me (I eat Eatlean low-fat cheddar and usually order for a few of us direct from the manufacturer, however I was out of sync with the others, so I asked Ali to get me one block in her online supermarket order). This should have been a simple four-mile run over there plus something on the way back, however, I got to one decision point and just chose plain WRONG. Twice. In the dark.

So I was running from the bottom of the picture, went left instead of straight on, went back on myself, turned myself right around and went right, till I was set on my way back the way I’d come again, straight ahead and rejoined the correct road. Sigh.

I asked a man in a bus company jacket the way (and might have announced “my cousin’s a bus driver, too” and the kind Portuguese man set me right. Worst of all, I had turned tracking on Google Maps on so Matthew could keep an eye on where I was, and I was worrying  he’d be panicking (he wasn’t looking at it, it turns out). I did finally get to Ali’s and she took this pic of me, a bit weird in her sitting room in all my gear (I’m loving my chest light, by the way).

Liz by Ali

I decided to run back THE WAY I KNEW and get the bus, however the bus was going to be 16 minutes so I ran along the bus route for a bit so as not to get cold. I ended up doing 6.7 miles, which was further than I thought I’d get! I did have to race to keep up with the bus schedule towards the end.

6.7 miles, 12:14 mins per mile. 15,466 steps

Wednesday – I didn’t get to yoga. I was waiting in for a delivery of fancy French soaps (well, not fancy, very low number of ingredients and including Savon de Marseille and Savon d’Alep – great for both my problem skin and all the scrapes and chafes of running). I did walk some amount of miles, probably because I went to a gig locally in the evening and walked up there to meet my friend Sarah for a curry first.

Ollie, Liz and Sarah at The Men They Couldn’t Hang. Fun fact: I met both of them on the first day of university in 1989 and Ollie is a big runner, too, which neither of us would have predicted at the time.

4,413 steps

Thursday – I met Jenny for an early one and although I was a bit sleep-deprived due to the gig, we  had a nice run out on our usual route. I took a photo of this road name because I’d been talking about it with Sarah the night before – we had a friend who had a house here when we were students in the second year. This also shows a very typical red and blue brick wall and a lovely fine old Edwardian house.

5.4 miles, 12:55 mins per mile. 12,999 steps

Friday – No yoga as I just had too much work. I walked to Lidl the long way around to buy oats (they sell them packaged in a paper bag) and felt good I’d even got this many steps in plus 8+ hours of work and some housework!

5,756 steps

Saturday – My main long run was today although I’ve split it over two days because I was supposed to be officiating at a cross-country event today but it was cancelled due to flooding. I’d arranged to do 7-8 miles and then meet Jenny tomorrow for some more, so that’s what I stuck with. I met Trudie, Mary Ellen and Ruth at the end of my road and we did the 5.5 mile canal route I’d done with Claire the other week, picking up Caroline on the way. You wouldn’t think that building was on a main arterial road out of England’s second city, would you?

Stratford Canal looking back to Alcester Road

Here are the other Ladies, doing … something

Trudie, Ruth, Mary Ellen and Caroline

Trudie has thankfully got over her fall from last week (she says thank you for the kind thoughts) and we didn’t have to climb through so much of the fallen tree this time (see photo of it with Claire last week)!

Just past the fallen tree. Photo by Caroline (with permission)

Most of us finished back on my road but I ran with Caroline back to her house then wiggled my way around the side streets to make my run up to 8 miles. We had a trip up the high street and then walked the mile there and back to a friend’s house in the afternoon, all upping my step count nicely!

8 miles, 13:00 mins per mile. 26,822 steps

Sunday – It turned out when we met that Jenny and I both almost messaged the other to cancel, but we met early and ran/walked, with the run to and from our meeting and parting spots I ran longer than I’d been expected for a good for me weekly total. Accountability in action. It was nice to be out without the traffic and the park was pretty, although I somehow couldn’t get myself motivated to fish my phone out of the back pocket of my hi-viz tabard.

Autumnal trees and an empty road

5.4 miles, 14:11 mins per mile. 14,078 Steps (as of 18:00)

Weekly total 25.5 miles. Total this year 918.3 (I need 916.66 at the end of this month to be on track for my 1,000 miles in a year total; I am still 16 miles down on last year). Total weekly steps 82,874 though could have been more evenly spread through the week.

The Weekly Run Down is run by two wonderful running women and joined by lots of other inspirational women. Kim’s weekly wrap is here and Deborah’s is here.