Thursday, July 17, 2008

can't stop won't stop

after yesterday's longer-than-usual run, I wanted to go out today to see how well I would do, and to make sure I got my minimum 3 runs in this week. Having a minimum number of weekly runs is one of the toughest things to achieve, once you factor in work, social life (oh, who am I kidding) and the occasional weekend trip. A couple of things I do to make sure I get to 3 every week is to start early (run on Mondays), and do at least 2 back-to-back. For some reason I often feel compelled to do the successive runs after one of my longer runs, just like today.
Because I wasn't looking to achieve a fast pace, I decided to try a slightly different route, doing 7.4k through Green Park and St James' Park, basically a shortened 3 Parks run with a twist. The weather was slightly end-of-worldish when I left the gym:


Yet in typical London style, the clouds just hovered in a menacing fashion without ever breaking open into streams of rain. In fact, after 35 mins, there was a dash of sunlight to be admired over the horizon. It never got warm, but that doesn't mean I didn't sweat my usual half-gallon:

(so that's where those 621 calories went)

Even though my pace was fairly average, if not mediocre, the satisfaction of putting in that all-important third run, while still enjoying the different route, more than made up for it. Repetition might breed familiarity, and increased performances over time, but change can be a much more powerful incentive when used sparingly.

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