Wouldn’t You . . .

. . . go out running on a day like this! Sunrise was just before seven, and when I headed out the front door to meet Shana, it was just above the horizon, shining through the rain falling closer to us. In fact, it was quite rainy for a few minutes . . . but with the right clothes, that can make for perfect running weather.

I’d had the feeling that it was a good day for the sunrise, so I’d brought my camera out to take a couple of snaps:

Not bad . . . but they don’t really capture the beauty of the moment. Also, I managed to photograph the rain / get some rain on my lens.

Today’s run with Shana was the ’short & tough’ variety. We went out past the harbour, but then doubled back, coming across the beach.

Then we did a set of five hill repeats up the short road that goes from the Dove Marine Laboratory to the Fishermans’ Lookout. This is a short, but steep hill that can feel really hard on your legs at the end of a longer run. At the top, we jogged around to the steps, before walking back down to the beach for the next rep.

This was Shana’s first time on this kind of fun, so I made the rules very clear:

• We’re doing this five times
• You have to work HARD, but at a pace that you can do five times
  • If you go out too fast on the first one, this is going to be really unpleasant, as I’ll make you do the next four at the same pace!
  • If you go out too slow on the first one, this is going to be really unpleasant, as I’ll make you go much faster on the later ones!

Anyway, she did pretty well, and didn’t seem too beaten up at the end.

I was still full of beans (and the rain had stopped), so I headed off for the lighthouse, experimenting with running with music. I’m not entirely convinced about this, although when I was almost at the turnaround point, Johnny B Goode came on, and I pretty much duck-walked across the causeway to the lighthouse!

Speaking of which, it was the original Chuck Berry version that I had on . . . but I just love the scene from Back to The Future:

On the way back I realised why my last mile seemed so fast on Tuesday - I’d checked my watch at the wrong place. Today, hitting the final mile marker a little more accurately, my last mile as at a 6:40 pace. That’s far more believable than 5:15!

Workout:

• Type: Run
• Date: 09/20/2007
• Time: 07:00:00
• Total Time: 1:05:00.00
• Distance: 7 miles
• Average Pace: 9:17.28/mile

Filed under: Fitness, Music, Newcastle, Run