Aimless

Last night I was undecided whether to run then or this morning. I opted to run today and have a relatively lazy evening - though not a lazy day having been down at the gym for one of my twice weekly beastings. I shall write more on my gym progression soon.

This morning dawned, and I slept in. I just could not rouse myself to get out of bed early and do anything, let alone run. I have felt a bit off it the past few weeks - seeming to have a cold but it not developing into one properly. I've got a constant runny nose and just, well, don't feel 100%. So if I do sleep in I don't feel bad about it. If the body needs rest, it shall have it. After being up for an hour or so I set a time limit. I would run at 10am no matter how I felt. If I left it any later then I risked just watching the day go past doing research and other work related 'stuff'.

10am arrived and I got changed, ummed and arrred about what layers of clothes to wear and set off. I was road running, but didn't have a goal or objective as such. That's how most of my runs seem to be. I vaguely thought I'd like to be out for 45 minutes. Any more would be a bonus. The distance didn't matter. I headed out through the estate, making my first goal Old Glossop. If I could reach the bus turning circle and back that would be about 5km - a good enough run on the roads. I kept a nice pace up, under 6min/km - that's my usual 'good' pace - faster downhill, slower up. It evens out and over 30 minutes brings me to about 5km.

I forgot all about distance as I headed towards the swimming pool. I'd thought I might turn south, work my way through the streets and back home via Derbyshire Level...but then I turned North...up North Road. Now the challenge is to see if I can run all the way up to Cemetary Road. I'm battling with a road sweeper...he's gradually pulling away from me but then the road is fairly steep. Distance-wise I'm up for around 8km if I just loop back and go home via Woodhead Road. Sadly, but not surprisingly I don't run all the way up North Road...but my average pace with just a couple of really short walks stays under 7min/km. That'll do nicely. Even nicer, I catch the road sweeper up and overtake it. OK, it had to back up and re-do some of its work, but mentally it was good for me and spurred me on to keep the pace up to the top.

Reaching the top the weather is now quite fowl. Hard drizzle coming down in big sheets of wetness. Weirdly I don't feel all that damp, and not at all cold. I'm now heading gradually downhill, turn right and then left back towards Old Glossop. I choose to go past the scout hut, up and round to the bus turning circle...and feel a little sad I don't have fell shoes on - would have been nice to go up to Mossy Lea. No worries. I'm now about 7.5km done and around 45mins...hmmm. By rough calculations I've got about 1.5km if I go straight home...a little further and I could get to 10km...and if I keep up the pace I'll be around 1 hour. My magic target time.

Through the park and the plethora of dogs...what seemed like some sort of dog walking convention going on - actually lots of owners sheltering under trees. I can hear the rumble of the river - it's very swollen, likely burst its banks with the week's worth of rain that's been lashing down. And it is...torrents are flooding through the narrow section by the foot bridge.

Instead of turning left I go right and add a loop round the duck pond. The 10km distance is getting closer and I'm sustaining a decent pace - under 6min/km. I'm almost regretful the run is coming to an end soon but after 8.5km my legs are feeling it, but not protesting angrily. I push myself around a crescent that adds some distance on. Mentally running past home to reach a target just feels weird. The last push, the last 250m are up an incline. You can't call it a hill, but it is most definitely gaining elevation (on checking the stats there's only 17m elevation gain in the last km, but it feels worse!).

Before I know it I'm home. I think there was even a spurt eluding to a sprint at the very end as I tried to get my time under 58 minutes. Not to be. But I'm very proud of my 58:07. 57:38 is actual moving time...the stops must have been for roads but I count total time. Next time. My HR has stayed steady for most of the run, averaging around 169bpm, and average pace is 5:48min/km. I must be getting faster. Lovely. An aimless run with a great result.