Day 10 #Juneathon - Negativity

Day 10 of Juneathon...already, really?! Time flies when you're having fun!

I had already put in my advanced absence notification for Day 8 (Saturday) as I was photographing a wedding. I can confirm though that sufficient energy was put into the shape throwing during the reception and I am sure a fair few miles were clocked up walking to the bar to refill ones refreshment levels. A fair few calories consumed and the odd one or two burned with over-zealous dance moves. A great day & night and a tiny tick on Day 8 of Juneathon. 

Day 9 was an AWOL day. Sorry! Too shattered from Saturday's events and not hydrated or remotely energised enough to do owt. Let's not dwell on it. I had failed to do anything remotely active. Accept it and move on. 

And here we are, Day 10. I must admit, in a fairly short period of time, I have gotten quite used to doing something every day, albeit under some form of self-imposed duress. In the end, it always comes good and I feel better for moving and doing something.Today was a bit of a struggle. A long working day at my desk and time was suddenly running away from me and leaving me wondering if I would be able to get in a run or a workout of sorts. A bit of debating ensued about what to actually do that would allow me to still get on with my busy evening; I decided on a gentle 3 miler to ease myself into the week. A new route took my fancy and even though I had no idea of the distance, I was sure it would be around the 3 miles. My pace felt good and I quickly got into my stride, whizzing through the country lane, whilst desperately trying not to consume my body weight in flies, gnats and other flying mini-vermin! I knew I was onto a fairly quick pace but felt good. And then it got me thinking, when would I ever be able to run a negative split? Pace is something I have struggled with for a while now. I tend to head off fairly quickly and slowly but surely fade away. Despite trying to really slow my first few miles down, it never really works for me. A few months back, I found myself trying to run a slow warm up mile, only to find I ran one of my quickest miles ever as I became a bit competitive with the local bus and wanted to beat it to it's next stop! I think I just get a bit excited about being outside with my kit on and wanting to run and run and run, forgetting I am no Zola Budd (ask you folks, kids!) and burning out. It is something that I really need to work on especially as I have just signed up for my first ever, full blown, whopping, great big, juicy 26.2 mile marathon! I would love to crack it before my next half in August so will be trying really hard to get my head around it. As my mind wandered about how, when, plans on how, fuelling plans and the like for tackling this, I realised that I had no idea where I was, where I was running to and how far I had to go to get back home. Lovely countryside though. My friends will testify that I am a bit of a homing pigeon and have a pretty good sense of direction (I don't own a sat nav, preferring a map. Old school!) so soon found myself heading back towards home via rolling hills & minimal traffic.  

Imagine my surprise when the lovely Ellie Goulding declared to me (via Nike+, we aren't running pals!) that I had a) ran 5 miles in 44mins and b) I had just ran my fastest 5k ever - 27:26. Yeeesss!! Chuffed am I. And more so because of the following......

Only just but it is what it is - A NEGATIVE SPLIT!! I have never been so pleased to be so negative!! Now I just need to turn that negativity into a positive to make sure that I positively ensure that the negativity remains. Wish me luck!