And relax ....

I did have company on my Friday morning run, but of the four legged variety.  I decided to go off road to a local woodland, making it perfect for the dog to join me.  She could be off the lead, I was only going to be running for 40 minutes and taking it easy.  This also meant I didn't have to go out again for a dog walk post run!
It was a lovely crisp morning and I hadn't felt any aches or pains when I got up.  However on walking downstairs I did feel a twinge on top of my thigh, where I'd felt it during last week's long run.  I started off running very slowly but could still feel it.  I took the low path which meant I was running for 15 minutes before I had to tackle any serious hills and by then, the twinge had gone.  I'll have to keep doing those stretches to try to avoid any problems there.
The reason I swapped my runs about this week was because we went away for the weekend to celebrate my Dad's 70th birthday.  We stayed at Calcot Manor so I spent Saturday catching up with the family, enjoying the spa facilities and playing in the pool with the younger generation.  It was great to unwind and pamper my body a bit, after all its going to have to work a lot harder in the next few months.

I asked the hotel for a running route suitable for my run on Sunday morning and chose a simple out and back one.  I was up with the sun to welcome another crisp day and ran out from the hotel to a Cotswold village.  It was gorgeous. The route was fairly flat apart from one section before the turn back where you ran down a valley and back up the other side (then obviously turned round and did the dip again).  This section was quite steep so I didn't manage to maintain threshold pace for that bit, but kept it going a bit longer when I got to the flat.   I was back in time to fit in a swim with my son before enjoying a full cooked breakfast.  After all that, I felt I deserved a little time with the Sunday papers in front of the fire.