It’s been nice seeing you again, I’d quite forgotten what grey skies look like.
Winter training camp well what’s to be said about it…
Upsides
Weather is much nicer, so it feels easier to run
Having an apartment means you can do home laundry for all the sports gear
Eating and drinking locally is fab, I’d forgotten just how much I like tapas
Getting to run by the side of the beach is glorious, there’s always something to look at (even if you don’t want to see what’s there!)
You get to feel the City a little more, rather than just being a tourist doing the sights
Downsides
Weather is much nicer, so it feels easier to run – therefore no excuses not to
Having an apartment means you can do home laundry for all the sports gear, but I do feel like a laundromat assistant doing ‘service washes’
Eating and drinking locally is fab, I’d forgotten just how much I like tapas, and how they are not the ideal ‘training’ food
Suggested running routes don’t always tell you what you will find; once leading to a sharp exit from an alley where I felt decidedly out of place
You don’t get as much time as you imagine to ‘see the sights’
I came out with a mental plan to ‘do’ 40 km in the 5 days I was here and that’s quite a smoking 8km per day; whereas the most I’d done previously was 7. In actual fact, I’ve run just over 45kms in my time here, so a little better than I thought with a daily average of 9kms. The benefit of sunshine therefore comes out at 1km a day I don’t know whether Mr JCR will consider the cost benefit analysis a strong one… 😉
Oh and a sunny wave to ju-ju who had a crap start to the day.
Playlist
A New England – Billy Bragg
Is This The Way To Amarillo – Tony Christie
London Calling – The Clash
Strong – London Grammar
No Particular Place To Go – Chuck Berry
Maid of Orleans – OMD
Romeo and Juliet – Dire Straits
Penny Lane – The Beatles
Rio – Duran Duran
Vienna – Ultravox
Belfast Child – Simple Minds
Going Down To Liverpool – The Bangles
Black Eyed Boy – Texas
California Dreaming’ – The Mamas and The Papas
Avalon – Roxy Music
Grease – Frankie Valli
Japanese Boy – Aneka
Big in Japan – Alphaville
What A Wonderful World – Sam Cooke
Rhythm Is Going To Get You – Gloria Estefan and The Miami Sound Machine
Streets of Philadelphia – The Boss
Downtown – Petula Clark
Barbados – Typically Tropical
Stats
Distance 10.52 kms
Time 1:21:00
Average Pace 7:42 (mins/km)
Elevation Gain 28 metres
Running Streak = 5 days (but tomorrow is a rest day as we fly home) (12km, 10km, 6km, 6km, 10km)
Team Rhomboid Torture (or Lenten Challenge)
20 squats
6 Hollow Rocks holding 10 seconds
20 Wall Press Ups
1 knackered body
Alzheimer’s Challenge
Kms Run to Date 257.6
Kms to Do 1760.40
(Hopefully I’ll have kicked in to the 1600s by the end of Feb)