Day 10 Morning treadmill running and hitting some landmarks

Todays run - Morning (Early!) - Speed/Fartlek - Treadmill - 5K - 26mins

This morning I hit the gym for the last time in a while, due to a few personal issues as well as a decision to run more and train differently I am cancelling my gym membership and today was the last I will be using my membership.

I had planned to have an intensive week of training to really utilise my membership in the final days with plenty of weights sessions and perhaps a dip in the pool but the week hasn't quite worked out that way. 

With my main focus this week now being Friday's boot camp session in Birmingham for Runners World's Target Asics 26.2 competition  I have scaled back my training and decided to focus just on running this week. 

So my run this morning was some fartlek and speed work with the majority of the session ranging from 11.0 km per hour and 14.0 km per hour after a few minutes of gentle jogging at 10.00 km per hour.  

Overall I was quite please with how I got on and felt comfortable at the top speed of 14.0 km per hour which is usually about my top speed. I do need to be more disciplined in doing more specific interval training both outside and on the treadmill. I cant say I am a lover of treadmills but I am certainly not scared of them or against using them and in the past I have done some serious mileage on treadmills including a couple of half marathons.

Today was a significant landmark in my training for three reasons, firstly it is day 10 of my runstreak so now I am a third of the way through and also into double figures. Secondly this is the first time I have ventured into double figures for consecutive running days. Thirdly and most importantly todays run means I have now completed over 900km for 2014 and am therefore have under 100km left to go this year to hit my target of 1000km for the year! 

Tomorrow (Thursday) I plan on an early morning run to then give myself as much recovery time as possible before Fridays boot camp session. I will also be concentrating on plenty of stretching and recovery type work to get my legs in the best possible shape! 

First run in my new trainers

So my first run this morning in my new trainers.

My trainers were a recent bargain purchase in an end of season sale. I usually try to get running trainers cheap in end of season sales as I am not bothered about having older model trainers.

Another great buying tip I have for you is as follows...

Have you ever found trainers cheaper online but been reluctant to order them as you don't have the opportunity to try them on? Yep me too!

What I then try to do is find the trainers I want to buy online in a physical store so I can try them on. Its a genius idea that impresses me greatly! A little way to play the system! 

For example sportshoes do a great range of running shoes at great prices but font have any physical stores. However in London with an abundance of Sports Direct stores it is usually possible to find the trainers you want in physical form as opposed to pretty pictures online.

Here are my Asics GT2000 which I bought online saving over £30 on the cheapest price I could find in an actual store.

I love their style and colour combination of neon orange, blue and black.

As soon as I slipped them on for the first time in the shop my feet were in heaven so comfortable and snug just like the proverbial glove. 

Starting off running in them though I wasn't so sure they were the right trainers for me as they didn't seem to fit correctly around the heel. My heel didn't seem to sit comfortably on the inner sole in the trainer but after a while this thankfully faded away.

My run was along the north bank of the Thames down to Tower Bridge and it was a beautiful morning for it.

I wasn't the only one out running, as we head towards summer holiday time and the summer 10K schedule London is full of runners. In my 35 minute 6.5K run I counted 78 runners, I am thinking of keeping a count of runners more frequently while on my runs to maybe come up with some runner per Km statistics. A bit sad I know but it might be interesting?!

When I completed what was a gentle jog to Tower Bridge I turned round and headed back doing dome fartlek on my return leg.

Running in new trainers as well as being a physical experience of having more comfortable and supportive trainers on your feet is such a mental experience as well as you feel the much better runner for wearing better trainers.

I experienced all the mental placebo type affects this morning, I felt I was running on air, I thought I was bounding along like Usain Bolt, my legs felt so strong and energetic and all because of a new pair of trainers! 

I am obviously feeling faster as I continue to increase my training and get faster, stronger and fitter but in my mind this morning every positive aspect of my run I attributed to my new shiny trainers!

Feeling particularly good about myself, my attractive new trainers, new shorts and my favourite running top I felt inspired to try and capture the moment via the medium of a selfie.

My overriding thought in my head this morning was Paolo Nutini's song about new shoes, its a great catchy feel good song well worth a listen:

'Hey, I put some new shoes on, 

and suddenly everything is right,

I said, hey, I put some new shoes on and everybody's smiling,

it so inviting,

Oh, short on money,

but long on time, 

slowly strolling in the sweet sunshine,

and i'm running late, 

and i don't need an excuse, 

'cause i'm wearing my brand new shoes.'

m.youtube.com/watch?v=hmbUNF1Q4R8