Looking for positives

Day:         59

Distance: 9.97km

Time:       53:19 secs

Calories:  767

Note to self: when the training plan suggests you take it easy after a long run at the weekend you should take it easy.

Following last night's AudioFuelled run, tonight was challenging. In my eagerness to try out the AudioFuel freebie last night I ended up covering 8.38km in about the same time that it took me to cover 7.48km the Monday before. Now I see the difference written down it really doesn't seem all that much, but this can be the only reason why I found tonight's run so difficult.

I started out with high hopes for this "60 mins fartlek" run following the successful pilot of my "Slow/fast" playlist last week. However, it never really felt as though I was able to speed up as much as I would like for the fast sections of this run. The only two fast songs that really seemed to pick me up this time round were "Wreckin ' Bar (Ra Ra Ra)" and "White Riot" - but they both last for less than 2 minutes!

Although this was perhaps the least enjoyable of all the training runs I've been on so far there are definitely some positives to take out of it. 

Firstly, at least I went out and did it. There were points when I considered turning back, but I'm glad I pushed on. I didn't manage the full hour, but 53 mins isn't far off. 

Secondly, looking at the Run Keeper analysis I can see that, as so often happens, perception is different to reality. While it felt as if every kilometre was a struggle and as though I was wading through treacle at times I can see that despite the varied pace of a fartlek run only one of the kilometres averaged more than 5:30 mins/km. The fastest kilometre was covered in 4:39 and the slowest in 6:02. The average speed came out at 5:20 mins/km which, incidentally, is about the speed I need to be averaging if I'm to complete the London Marathon in my target time of 3:40.

Thirdly, well it would have been nice to have had three positives to take out of tonight's run but I'm afraid I've stretched it too far at this point. That said, tomorrow is designated as a rest day and after a run like this that is most definitely a positive.