“We think, mistakenly, that success comes from the quantity of work that we put in, instead of the quality.” Ariana Huffington
3rd April – Days to go on 100 days dry: 10. Days until the Dartmoor Way: 43
Actually, the exact quote from ‘Interval Intervention‘ was, “If I keep this up, in the summer, I’m going to run 5k around it’s [sic] flat, ugly top.”
Yesterday was a rest day, so we took the opportunity to drive to Bristol and have a wander around the shops. It’s funny how being told you’re not able to do something as mundane as window shopping makes it seem like the only thing you want to do, but we took it slowly as we emerged from the lockdown which meant that just spending the afternoon together in this way was a real treat. The other half and I had no real agenda, and nothing to achieve except spending a nice afternoon together. The weather was nice and I was talking about the run the following day, when it occurred to me that running for 30 minutes was now not only achievable, but that I could stand to up the challenge a notch. I had run the loop into town and back a few times, and it’s a lovely route, but was there a way to challenge myself a little more?
And the sentence above washed into my consciousness completely unbidden. I completely dismissed it. Thinking about all the reasons why I wouldn’t be ready. It is a really steep climb to get to the top of Stinchcombe Hill from my house. The paths would be really muddy. I might turn an ankle. And so on. It reminded me of my litany of excuses not to exercise from before Christmas. I could feel the pattern forming in my mind ready to excuse my failure to launch.
So I decided on the spot that for my Sunday run, I would run 5k around its flat, ugly top.
Now it was about logistics. There is a circular route that picks out the edges of the golf course around the top of the hill, so I decided to walk from the house to a point on that path before starting the tracker. This would give me the opportunity to get nicely warmed up and set off on a fairly level path. It didn’t occur to me that the route to get started was the ‘Frontal Assault’ that I made such a big deal of in the Week 1: Distance walk description.
I woke up and was really excited and a little nervous. This was different to my usual runs. This was going to be a challenge, no doubt. I couldn’t wait. Originally I planned to go out about 10:30, to let the day warm up a little. But by 9 o’clock I was dressed in my running gear and ready to go. Not even the frosty grass in the garden was a deterrent.
I surprised myself by getting to the top of the hill in really good shape, took a minute to catch my breath and set out on my ‘Easy Run’. 5 minutes ‘warm up’ 30 minute run at 7min / km and 5 minute cool down. All out of excuses, I set the timer and started.
Trail running is hard. The paths are uneven and a couple of times I was lucky not to fall foul of mischievous tree roots that conspired to flip me over. My pace was really uneven when compared to road running, which seems obvious now, but something that I struggled to control during the run. The route undulates wildly, some steep sections, some flat, some that resemble rollercoasters in the way they soar up and down over a few hundred meters.
I had to stop for about 30 seconds to catch my breath after one steep climb, but I am not giving myself anything close to a hard time for that. It was brutal compared to road running. I settled to a decent pace, and rounded the corner to start the descent back to the road after 25 minutes.
The timer pinged in my ear just as I got to the road back to the house and I started to slow my pace down to a brisk walk in order to cool down.
Getting back to the house my legs were screaming and my heart pounding. What a rush! Awful, hard, brutal, exhilarating, brilliant morning. I’m hooked. As it turned out, I ran for 5.53km, in 40 minutes (plus the initial 10 minute walk up.) As the weather gets better Stinchcombe Hill, and specifically its flat, ugly top, is going to be a regular feature of my long runs.
“I’m a great believer in luck, and I find that the harder I work, the more I have of it.” Thomas Jefferson
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