ok…not that sort of free running…not the Parkour awesomeness type of free running…I am really not that good…at anything to be engaging in that sort of thing…

What I mean is running just for the sake of it to see how you can do. Running with no preset intervals and no preset time for the run or distance to cover. That is what I did this lunchtime…a completely free run. I tracked it but I didn’t follow a plan and I didn’t prescribe set intervals or even set warm up times. It was something of an experiment.

I am pretty pleased with the result, my overall time is faster than my last run. My distance is less, but I am not worried about this because it took less time and as I said, my pace is up from last time which would indicate more running over all and faster running. I looked at the km splits on the pc and I learned that the second km was the quickest, and looking at this on the map it is the one I did the least walking in. the pace was 6.4 min/km which I think probably works out to be my run pace…I am pretty pleased with that for now. I ran more in the first 2/3 of the run and then resorted to shorter intervals for the last 3rd, I didn’t walk for more than 2 mins at any point and I think my longest run was 8 mins…although it is hard to tell.

I enjoyed my run today, there was no pressure to run / walk at specified times, and therefore there was no guilt about stopping for walks although I made a conscious effort to make these walk breaks as short as possible. I think my run intervals, although shorter individually were faster, I was conscious while I was doing it that I was actually running rather than going at a measured trot. The second half was a lot more like the sprint intervals I do in the gym, although I was in no way sprinting…just to make that clear!!

I learned a lot from today’s run and over all I am pleased with the results, however, I think I have reached the conclusion that I will set my intervals next time. I worried when I was going along that I would not get back to work on time, I don’t have a watch so I had to keep checking my phone which meant I kept checking my app which made me dwell on how long I was running / walking for! I thing I generally prefer a bit of structure to my runs at the moment, that way I can stop worrying about time and get on with running. It also allows me to compare stats a bit easier and get a measure of how I am improving.

All in all pretty pleased with today’s efforts, especially as I haven’t run in a week!

Day 97 Complete 😀