I <em>(Cate)</em>Ran Again Yasterday!

Well, whilst my boat is due to sail this week, as things stand, I’m not due to be on it. So, I have a little longer to find my sea legs, and a little longer to keep up the running!

I haven’t done much this week, my legs were a little tender to say the least after last weeks efforts, so after doing nothing on Monday, it was cross training in the gym that was called for on Tuesday. I pushed myself far too hard on the bike for 40 minutes, and my legs were certainly not more recovered after the session.

On Wednesday we had a training exercise on the boat in the evening, which pretty much gave me no time to go running, but after an early finish on Thursday (2pm), and a beautiful day to match, I climbed into my running gear (under protest from my legs, may I add) and headed out for a run. I decided just to go out and explore, with the main intention to find the Glen Fruin road. After a few uphill false starts, I found it, and it’s definitely a hill! On my ‘still tired from the weekend’ legs, it was only pure bloody minded stubborness, that saw me run all the way to the top without stopping. Then, when I reached the top of the road, I was anal, and had to take the trail to the very top. Something my road shoes were not very happy about! After enjoying the view for a few minutes, I ran back down the way I came, then out to Garelochhead and back. I was out for over an hour and a half, and although I enjoyed it, my legs really did struggle with the run after the climb.

When I returned, I got into the shower, taking my trainers with me for a rinse (they were disgusting!). Just after I’d got in, and was starting to enjoy the hot water, the bloody fire alarm went off! I took my time to dry myself and get dressed (I figured I’d rather have to smash the window with my desk chair to get out, than go out there in a towel), and was glad I did. After about 10 very cold, wet haired minutes, they finally acknowledged that it was a false alarm, and I headed back in to rejoin my trainers in the shower!

On Saturday I joined Caroline for a 25.5 mile run on the Cateran Trail. It was very wet and soggy under foot, and with quite a lot of ice in the early stages, I continued to make my latest running experiences eventful, by performing a Torvil & Dean style manouevre. Unfortunately I failed to include the grace or the finesse of their Bolero performance and ended up in a painful heap on the floor! I’ve had better starts to a run! Anyway, Mrs pacepusher ran really well and we had, in the words of Wallace & Gromit, ‘A Grand Day Out’.

I’m back to Faslane in about 3 hours… I feel a bit happier about it this week!