5 mile run and an addition to the Group and a new Challenge

Monday again so Facebook was full of people moaning its Monday, but I was excited because it was Run day. Rob was running and we had the addition of Luke too finally, he had been saying for a couple of weeks now that he would join us. He finally did but almost didn't because he forgot and organised to go to the Gym with a friend. Rob was running a little late so we decide to meet up a 7 that meant we all could run.

It is nice to run on your own and listen to your own music, but running with friends is so much better. You can have a catch up chat, or pace yourself again each other and it just makes the run go a lot smoother and more enjoyable.

We met at my house and headed off up the road into Shepley and then up to the farmers boy to do our usual route when it's dark. Rob and I chose this route because its a good distance and has so good ups and downs as well as being lit by streetlights all the way round.

After my last run and the rubbish GPS problems with my Endomondo app I decided to give the Nike app a try. I attached the sensor to my shoe before we met up, and set up the App on my iPhone. The only difference on set up between the Apps is you can't change the distances from Miles to Km on the Nike App like you can on the Endomondo App. So today for the first time in a while we were running in miles and not Km.

Lap 1 went fairly smoothly we didn't have any issues and Luke Knee was hold out. This was the First Road run for Luke in 15 months since snapping ligaments in his knee. So even thou its healed and the Doctors said its as good as new we all were a bit cautions to start with, by lap 2 we were just focused on the distance we were running. Half way round the 2nd lap we had done 2.5 miles and it was then that we all kind said that if we finished the 3rd lap we should have done 5 miles. Last week Rob and I only did 2 laps so this was gonna be new territory for use. I had already done 5 miles a month or so back but this was gonna be Robs personal best and Luke was happy that his first run in 15 months would be 5 miles long. When we were halfway round lap 3 Rob and Luke were starting to discuss tight muscles and where they were starting to feel it a bit, so I knew that this would be the last lap. As we reached my house at the end of lap 3 we were .2 of a mile short of 5 so we went round the Knowle until we hit 5 and then walk back to my house. We did 5 miles in 46 mins which is not a bad pace for us, I do think we could do it fast but that isn't the aim, the goal is to increase our distances first. When we arrived back to my house we stopped in the drive to have a little breather and reflect on our run. We all felt good after the run for different reasons, Rob for his PB, Luke because he survived and I felt like I could have gone another lap or 2. The little rest also gave me a chance to evaluate the Nike App, I had paused the workout when we reached 5 miles so I could now stop it. When I did it asked me to rate my run on how I felt and then gave me a chance to name the shoes I ran in. The run went well so I put that I felt great and the naming of the shoes was the easier bit. They are my NEW SHOES of course and they always will be, even if I end up getting a new pair they will always be NEW SHOES. Read my early blogs to see why, if you don't get it. The GPS on the Nike App worked well but so did the Endomondo App on the same run last week. It's a bit early to say which I prefer but I'll keep testing. The Endomondo App does have an advantage of having lots of sports to track rather than the Nike App which is specifically for running.

During the run we were talking about the 10km run that Rob and I are doing to cannon hall, we ask Luke if he wanted to join us too. Luke was up for it and that meant there would now be 4 of us running it, Luke, Rob, Matty and Me. Luke has also ask me if I wanted to do the great north run next year for a charity his mum is involved in, and as I was planning on doing it anyway it was an easy decision. So the Running calendar now looks like this, a 10km tester run this November 4th, then if that goes well another 10km around March 28th. It's then full on training for the Yorkshire warrior on April 20th, then it's the Great North Run in September. I said that in 2014 I'll do a Marathon either London or New York and my little sis Jessie said New York. We will have to wait and see.