Sunday, May 19, 2013

Aiming for Athens - week 2

This week was a bit tougher, maybe not running wise but I had a very hectic week at work which involved too much sitting on trains and meetings. Long days of traveling also made it difficult to get enough sleep. I haven't been able to squeeze in any stretching or strength exercises this week but I'm very pleased that I could fit in the running days according to plan. All the sitting made the legs a bit heavy and stiff at the start of each run but I warmed up pretty quick and after a little while running (run/walking 3/1) was easy and I felt strong.

Tuesday: I celebrated my 53rd birthday with a 53 minute run on the narrow paths. I had a very good time and ended up with 7.55 km even though the plan said less running but I thought I'd cut back a little on the other days of the week to compensate - little did I know.

Thursday: The first really warm and summer like day and I got the chance to run a bit earlier than usual in the afternoon. Even though the temperature was a bit too high I couldn't resist  to go running in the sunshine. First run in shorts for the season. I ran smaller loops not too far away from home with my winter white legs in bright contrast to the marine blue shorts. I had such a great time that I kept adding loop after loop until I finally, after a 9 km run, arrived at home.

Sunday: The plan said 14.1 km and I decided to run a loop that I thought would be around 15 but after 5-6 km I realized that I was wrong and that I would have to run much longer to get back home again. I tried a few shortcuts even though running shortcuts in an area you're not familiar with can turn out even longer. I managed to decrease the distance a little but ran longer than intended for the third time this week. Distance for the week ended up at an (for me) amazing 33.05km/20.5miles. I've also surprised myself with a really good pace and a feeling of being strong. All in all a great week.

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