Day 33 - First isolation running session

Today I finally got to do my first running speed session since the lockdown started. I’ve had two chest infections this year, and the most recent one only ended about two weeks ago. So I’ve had a good bit of time since January where I wasn’t able to run at all because of being sick. Then, I spent the past two weeks doing easy running only, to build up my fitness again. So it felt lovely to get the legs turning over and to give my lungs a bit of a workout this morning! Emmett Dunleavy (a running coach) is putting training sessions up online, that you would normally have to pay for, so I’ve started following his training plan.

Despite it being a reasonably popular spot for runners, I went down to the river to do this session, as it’s flat there. I pretty much had the stretch of path to myself for most of the session thankfully though. I couldn’t remember where exactly along this road my 2km radius reaches to, so I did each 5 minute rep as a 2:30 minutes out and back again rep, just in case! Then, at the end, I found an empty outdoor carpark to do my 60 second race pace reps in. It was perfect because I knew there’d definitely be no pedestrians to dodge in there. I found a bag of sand, or something, in there too, which had the name “Crusader” written on it. This is the name of my running club, so it was like a sign or something. I’m not sure what exactly it was a sign of, but my mind likes wandering these days!

In the afternoon, I learned Oti Mabuse’s Beyoncé-themed dance class, while wearing my Summer sarong as a costume! Fiona did this dance yesterday and sent us a video of her doing it. It looked really fun, so she inspired me to get to it today! Mia is thoroughly unimpressed by the dance videos that we keep sending at regular intervals!

After this, I went for a walk in the sun and chatted to Fiona in the phone while she did the running session that I did this morning. Phone chats with family are so lovely these days - they really lift my spirits! Although, the chat had to be done mostly by me when Fiona was doing the speedy bits of the session!

In the evening, we had our second Crusaders lockdown quiz. It was a tougher one this week, with the questions set by James Cottle. At the end he asked “who wants to do the quiz next week?” And, thinking that he was asking who wanted to participate, I enthusiastically said “yes!” So, having unwittingly volunteered for it, I will be next weeks quizmaster. It must have seemed so weird to everybody else when I volunteered with such gusto to be quizmaster. Fiona said that she had to leave her camera, she was laughing so much. She also told me that this moment was the highlight of her week! I’m glad to be of service. Haha! But, to be honest, it was quite the highlight for me too. It’s always lovely seeing all the familiar Crusaders faces, even if I am making a fool of myself in front of them!Read more