It was a good week until I thought about it

Words like good are quite subjective aren’t they? Good for me is bad for someone else, and great for others. I look at good as being average. When it comes to running, good is solid. A week where progress was made. A week where some important things were achieved. But not an epic week.

This was a good week, or so I thought. Then, as I reflected on the week it was better than that. Here’s 5 reasons why:

1. I managed to do 3 Taks this week. That’s 69, 70 and 71 done
2. My Wednesday and Thursday had a challenging aspect to it. 3 hour run Wednesday and then an interval session AM on Thursday with a tempo session at lunchtime. Phew!
3. My mileage this week is the biggest since February and so is my TSS (training stress score), with also 3rd most elevation in a week all year
4. I have lost 2kgs of the puppy fat accrued this year
5. And I did a trail 10k race the day after a medium length run with a Tak in it the day before, and finished 3rd in wintery conditions. It is August after all

This is all very encouraging. I really enjoyed challenge of running long Wednesday and having two high-intensity sessions the next day. It helped focus my mind on the week.

The most enjoyable run of the week was the Palacerigg 10k Trail Race. In aid of a Children’s charity, this race was put on by some of the core team who run the parkrun. Now, it is August and it is Scotland. That meant the weather was positively biblical. The kind of rain, with a seasoning of wind, that is so bad you wouldn’t even put the bins out in it.

I met Des Tinney at Cumbernauld train station and we ran a few miles up to the start. Hearing Des talk about his Camino in a few weeks was quite inspiring. As was seeing many a familiar face beforehand. Including David Murray and Graham MacBroom who were both involved in designing such a delightful route.

My expectations for the race were low. The whole point of the training week was to have a strong week and push things, finishing the week with a hard effort on fatigued legs. The route is really runnable for the most part with the last mile presenting some interesting challenges on single track trail.

The rain, which started around early March it feels, meant that the trails whilst wide and generous were slick. And the downhills just a bit too slippy for my cautious constitution. I have the bravery of a mouse in a cattery when it comes to these things. I run slick downhills as if I am wearing a high-heel on my left foot and a roller-skate on my right. All whilst carrying scissors.

I ran in second place for all bar the last few hundred metres of the race when Stephen Allen – who had been on my tail the whole way – took off. I knew I wasn’t going to follow, happy with my day and week’s work. The race was a proof point in line with what I wrote about last week on these pages, but it is not pivotal.

I felt given the course, the week and the conditions, to run a solid sub 40 mins would be a good return. As it was I nudged a few seconds under 39 mins.

So, it turns out my week was a tad better than good. That’s, erm, good!

I will tell you what is better than good. The spirit of the race put on by the team at Palacerigg 10k. Raising for money Childline Scotland. Folks giving up their time for charity and to give runners a place to race and run. And the strong community coming together for a great cause. That is not good. It is excellent.

Now begins 3 weeks of the next 5 for me travelling with work. All about thwarting threats and grabbing opportunities. And turning the good to great, consistently.