Day 1 - Race to the Stones 100km virtual run

So it all begins today 6th July 2020..

According to my plan I should have 2 runs today 12km and 11km. I knew I had a busy day ahead which included 2 runs, close family friend's funeral and work of some sort.

Set off at 07:20am for my first run. The plan was to run along the canal to Victoria Park, a couple of laps in there and run back along the canal. The podcast of choice for this morning was from the Nike Running app using the Guided run option. I chose Mindful Matters; Coach Andy Puddicombe of Headspace and Coach Bennett talk to Olmpic Champion English Gardener about her career where she talks about the ups and downs she went through and moving forward. English Gardener is one of the best sprinters in the world. She is a member of the US gold medal 4x100 relay team in the 2016 Olympics. I thoroughly enjoyed the conversation between these guys. One thing that really stood out for me what something that English's mum said to her when she was younger; 'You can eat a whole elephant, just take one bite at a time'. This, when you really think about it is true and can be applied to all aspects of life. Anything really is possible with planning, preparation and taking just one step at a time.

The run was at a super easy pace and I banked 13km before 9am which was awesome!

This evening at 6pm, I tackled the second part of my run. This time I ran to the Olympic Park along the canal and then the same route back home.

Super gentle miles again, I had to keep pumping the brakes as the pace kept creeping up slowly...lol. Who knew how hard it is to run slow...damn! It was difficult but settled eventually, and very important if I am to make it through the week.

The podcast of choice this time was Runpod with Jenni Falconer. The first Runpod was Jenni talking to Derek Redmond an athlete who has excelled at many sports, one of which is sprinting. He went to the Olympics twice, representing GB alas both experiences did not go to plan. They discussed that anything can happen in sport and how you deal with consequences. The second Runpod was Jenni talking to Sally Gunnell OBE about staying active throughout the period of self-isolation. Sally Gunnell OBE represented GB at 400m Hurdles and is an Olympic Gold medal winner. I really enjoyed both podcasts and would highly recommend Runpod. I used it via Spotify for free!

I banked 11km for this run. So in total I banked 24km today. Feeling good. 

To round off my day, I enjoyed Westlab salt bath. I still have about 4 bags which I got from National Running Show in Birmingham. Great time to put them to use 😊 On another positive note, my water intake has been very good which I am happy about! This is something I am not very good at but I have been very conscious of this over the last 2 weeks including fueling properly before and after my runs.

Bring on tomorrow. The plan is to run 16km, which I hope to do in the morning before work.