A week without running

In the past week the only exercise I have done is an hour of football. Afterwards I felt terrible: sick stomach and mouth, pounding head and eyes that wanted to push themselves free. My hamstrings were taught to the point of tearing, and no stretching seemed to help.

I had missed my Tuesday workout because a gas leak had closed the gym, and I missed my Thursday workout because snow had fallen heavily and I was grateful to have made it home. However, the snow and the football meant that I did not run on Saturday in Bridlington (although the park run results have yet to be posted, so I wonder if it went ahead at all...)

I remember two summers ago I worked a little at my school work everyday. I also completed a running tour of Scotland with some success. It was an enjoyable routine, and mean that the rest of the year was a little easier. I sit here now in my study contemplating something of the same this year.

There is no great desire to push myself towards a goal: a sub-40 minute 10k, or regular 18-19 minute 5ks at the Park Run. I don't even have that great a desire to lose weight, although I know that I really should. I do stretch, and my body has some strength still left in it. But, my life, this last week has crumbled my fitness. It only takes a short while of not working to do so...

And so I managed to use the cross-trainer at the kind of intensity that I used at my fittest. For the first ten minutes I felt as if I might collapse. I didn't though, and it set up my day. I don't want to do no training at all, though, for the next week.