What Time to Run?

I am falling behind in blogging Juneathon, so need to catch-up and report a fail.

Saturday

The plan was a 12k run at easy pace, which was achieved. I am always pleased when this happens because, being a person whose self discipline lacks a certain amount of iron, I am never quite sure I will follow through with my intentions. This time I did so but not without an awful lot of humming and hawing - it was late afternoon before I got out of the door.

'What time to run?' is an interesting question. All the science tells us that or circadian rhythms favour the afternoon for exercise. Apparently it is better if we do our mental work first thing in the morning whilst leaving physical exertion for later as our bodies work more efficiently when they are fully warmed up. Certainly most athletic world records are broken in the afternoon (though that might well be influenced by most athletic meets being at that time) and when Chris Boardman, who was famous for leaving no scientific stone unturned, broke the hour cycling record he was careful to timetable the attempt for teatime. However psychology is a big factor. If I do not get out fairly promptly in the morning I tend to mess around for most of the day, procrastinating, wasting time and sometimes not going at all. I really need to get out before I can think about it.

Saturday was an example. The morning priority was food shopping rather than running ( because of the need for lunch), but after that there was coffee, then waiting till after lunch, followed by some reading, and some fettling, before I realised if I did not go it would be dinner time and I would miss the run.

When I got out I still found myself distracted. About 15 minutes in I passed a cricket game and stopped to have a look. I sat down on the grassy bank and was overcome by the feeling of idle contentment that comes from cricket on a warm afternoon. I love the age range in local teams from boys to grizzled veterans, though predominantly the teams are middle aged . ('Come on boys' the captain yelled to encourage his team but boyhood was a distant memory for most of them). I also love the rhythm of the game, which is almost hypnotic.

I spent far too much time watching the last wicket partnership and so my 12k run was therefore more of a 2.5, 9.5 effort. Anyway I eventually got going and was quite pleased because the route featured a hill and a bit of variety from running by the canal.

Sunday

This was a fail as I spent the day painting and decorating. My intention was to do some yoga afterwards but I felt weary and could not be bothered.

If I am going to keep my Juneathon streak going I am going to have to reclassify decorating as exercise, but I am not fully convinced.


Juneathon Day 13 stats

Run distance: 12k
Run time: 1 hr 10min