4 and 5 April Training

Here's the view from yesterday:

I didn't get as far as I had thought I would. I'm not sure if it was just that I was dragging, or started running earlier than I have in previous days, but it was only a little further along that Saturday. Kew Palace was next to me instead of well behind me as I had anticipated:

Basic details from yesterday: 8 km in 1:08, pace 7.1 kph. It did feel pretty sluggish and sloggy.

Today was rainy and cold, but I got out for a speed interval training. No pictures because there were no planned walking intervals (when I allow myself to take a picture). The details aren't pretty, but I did get out and do it. I think the Cardiotrainer app is still acting a bit buggy (though that may be GPS satellite connections rather than a buggy app per se), so I take the numbers for this morning with a grain of salt: 4.4 km in 38 minutes, pace 6.9 kph. The path shows two different angles that go across the river, and since I go over and back on the same bridge, I know something's wrong, but nevermind. As I keep saying, it's foot in front of foot to get me there.

Two comments on how the training is going. It's hard. I have to fight myself out the door in the mornings, and sometimes it takes me an hour of arguing with myself to get pushed out the door. A couple of friends who are or were runners have spoken of the joy they get from running, and I figure at this point, I'll never be that person. I feel accomplishment when I'm done, and I try in the midst of it to be fully present to the moment (feeling breath, seeing the world nearby in the flowers and the trash along the way, centring myself and relaxing my shoulders), but it is work each time I lace up my shoes and go out. Not bad work, but work.

Secondly, I seem to finally be getting the benefit of the expense of calories. My body is feeling leaner, more fit and while I'm not managing calories as I should be, I find myself mostly eating a bit healthier (though the Cadbury Mini-Eggs may be my downfall this Easter), and not as frantic about eating as I have been. That's a great side effect of all of this work, and I'm glad for it.

Tomorrow's plan is for my long intervals again, and I'll see where I might get to this time.