I am currently training for the Great Edinburgh Run, a 10K event taking place in & around Edinburgh city centre on 3rd May this year. I’m a bit rusty at the moment as I haven’t done any serious running since the Great Winter Run in January.
It’s taking me a while to get out of the bit & I’m already a week behind on my training schedule! ( I’m using a basic 8 week training schedule which involves running 3 times a week.) So today I enlisted ‘the power of the pack’ to get me going!
My schedule indicated I should do ’2M easy, then 4 x 600m or 2 mins, with 400m or 3-min jog recoveries, then 2M easy’. (Easy?! – Ha!) So I set off round the field with Max & Molly & our foster dog, Torres, on their leads. (Max & Molly have a double lead to minimise tangling!) They seemed to really enjoy it – it wasn’t a run for them, of course, they were barely even breaking into a ‘trot’! So I jogged & they ‘trotted’ around the (approximately 2 mile) perimeter of the field, before I deposited the 3 of them in the garden for some down time while I went & attempted the annoying middle part of the run.
I hate running fast! I love running slowly, & could happily run at a nice gentle pace for miles & miles (I completed the Great North Run half marathon in October last year – I won’t tell you my time though!) That’s why I find this whole interval training thing so hard. So, why am I doing it? Well, I really want to complete this year’s 10K event in under an hour. Last year it took me 1 hour 15 minutes (I know, I’m slow!), but this year I am running it in aid of my local greyhound rehoming charity, Gracehounds, & want to raise as much money as possible. I figure that since I got into this whole running malarky (about a year ago), I’ve pestered people for sponsorship money so many times (I raised over £500 for mental health charity Mind when I did the Great North Run), I need to give them a bit of extra incentive to cough up this time! So, I’m gonna try & run the 10K in under an hour…
Anyway, I got through the middle bit, paused for a glass of water & put Max & Molly back on their leads to accompany me on the last 2 mile stretch. I left Torres at home coz he’s not (yet!) used to coming running with me & I did’t want to over tire him. My 2 are of course used to coming on these funny little ‘trots’ with me & happily trotted off round the field again with me.
I like running with my dogs. I’ve heard there’s an official ‘sport’, CaniX, which organises events (& even international ‘olympics’!) involving cross-country running with your dog(s). It seems to involve harnessing the dog’s pulling power and chase instinct with a dog running harness, waist belt and line to make it more comfortable for both owner & dog and give extra assistance (handy for the hills)!
I’m not sure if me & my pack are ready for that (yet!) but for now they’re doing a good job at motivating me to get off my bum & get round that field!
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