Hot, hot, hot

Mt Tennent run, Monday 26 January - a hard slog - going up Mt Tennent

Heading back downhill

Bushfold Flats

Summer has well and truly arrived - it is hot and there doesn't appear to be any respite for quite a few days yet. I went for a 12km 'easy' run along the cycle path this morning and it was hot, and I'm talking 6am.

The reason for the easy run was because I'm still feeling some after effects of the Mt Tennent run - sore quads and residual tiredness. The plan was to do an easy run along the cycle path but for some strange reason at about the 9km mark I decided to step up the pace and do the last 3 kms in sub-5min kms. Now those of you who routinely clock up sub-4min/kms don't scoff - some of us are elated if we can break sub-5min/km, 6min/km or even 7min/km. All the long slow hill running I've been doing has played havoc with my speed to the point that I don't have any speed! Anyway I managed sub-5min/kms for the last 3kms but it was hot, hard and sweaty work and by the time I finished I looked like I'd been running in the tropics.

This afternoon I went for my regular acupuncture appointment for my achilles/calf problem. The massage that precedes the needles is sheer hell but effective. "Is this too hard?" Dr Pain asks as he focuses on a painful knot in my calf. A muffled 'no' from me as I'm clutching the sides of the bench to avoid hitting the ceiling. By the time he inserts half a dozen needles into various parts of my calf I can barely feel a thing. My reward is that I can there lie there for about 40mins doing absolutely nothing - bliss.

This evening I decided to go for a swim, and so did most of northside of Canberra - hardly surprising in this weather. The lane I chose (medium pace) was well populated but so were all the other lanes so there was nothing for it but to jump in and hope to churn out some laps. Apart from a wayward backstroker and another person who was attempting some sort of stroke (very hard to describe but they were making lots of waves), I managed a kilometre without too many hassles.

Tomorrow:

A dreaded 4.30am wake-up call for a 5.30am, 20km, off-road run.

Followed by a weights session at the gym after work.
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"The higher your energy level, the more efficient your body. The more efficient your body, the better you feel and the more you will use your talent to produce outstanding results."

Anthony Robbins