Sunday 9 May 2010: Sunday blast and running Garmin free

Weekly Mileage: 89.5 miles

Mileage: 9 miles - 57minutes and 45 seconds

After a belly full of cheesecake, pork and beer, as well as a night of dancing I, unsurprisingly, slept in for once! It was nearly 10am before I woke up. I haven't been that late in bed for ages. I can not even remember when I last had such a long lie. My plan of getting up early, dashing out for a quick 8 miles and then sitting down to another cooked breakfast had gone out the window! No time for a run and we'd missed breakfast. 

To be honest I was pretty tired and lethargic, so was quite pleased to delay my run. I figured I would head out later in the afternoon. After packing up the car and heading back down the road to Edinburgh, via Morrison's and picking up Jack the dog, I was soon settled on the sofa at home with my lunch. After lunch I watched a bit of TV and had another nap. I was really lethargic when i woke and even after a coffee I was still really tired and the last thing I felt like doing was going for a run. 

I eventually dragged myself away from the computer and put on my running kit. It was at this point I realised that my trusty Garmin 405 (my GPS watch), which accompanies me on every run was out of battery. This was a real blow. I never run without it. Even small, gentle  runs are recorded. I love to know how many miles I've run, what mile splits are and how fast I am going. The Garmin is great for that and I can't remember the last time I ran without it. I know a lot of runners prefer to run without a GPS watch or a watch of any kind. They just run certain routes or run according to how their bodies feel. I've never been very comfortable with that. I like to know how well I am running and miles and pace rarely lie. 

I was even less motivated now, but knew it had to be done. I took my i-pod for company, as it has a stopwatch and I knew a 9 mile route, so at the very least I would know how fast I'd done my run in and how far I'd gone. Setting off I decided not to look at my i-pod, but just to run to how my body felt and see what came out at the end. 

My first mile was okay and so i pushed my pace. I quickly realised that I was actually running pretty quickly or at least that was how I felt. No Garmin, no chance to check my progress! My i-pod was buried deep in a pocket and so I couldn't check the time at all. It was a nice feeling. My legs were a little tired and niggley in places and my chest was a little heavy, but generally I felt fine and fast. Running along South Queensferry Road I thought back to Saturday's run and how my mood was so different. In the end I was having to hold back my pace and remind myself that I was tapering for next Saturday's race. I finished my run and stopped the watch at 57minutes and 45seconds. Not bad for a training run when I had much more to give. Hopefully a good sign that I am peaking at the right time for the race. I also felt much happier and far less lethargic than I had before my run. A great side effect of running is the positive effect has on your mood and energy levels.

It was nice to go out and just run, but I still missed my Garmin. At several points during my run I did  pull my arm up only to find an empty wrist. I reckon its a control thing. I like to be in control and knowing how well and how fast I am going in a run gives me that control. Needless to say, despite today's efforts, my Garmin is already charged and ready to go for tomorrow's run!