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The Out and Back Challenge

Tonight’s run was simple.  22 minutes out, 22 minutes back, 1 straight road.  On the outward leg, we ascended the hill out of the city centre and into Manchester’s suburbs.  I aimed to maintain a consistent pace in order to finish in 44 minutes.

Achieving the right pace and effort was a challenge.  Go too hard on the outbound leg and I’d be out of puff coming back; run with too little effort and I’d coast back to the start too quickly.  I finished the run in 42:47 having covered 5.17 miles, not too shabby!  The hill was a challenge but not too taxing and allowed for a fast couple of miles upon turning at the half way mark.  My stride length is probably too long to say that I tackled the hill effortlessly but I always seem to manage to maintain a reasonable pace when faced with a climb.  The simplicity of an out and back route meant that I could enjoy the pleasure of running without concentrating too much on the route, or even the scenery.  I love timed runs for that reason.  I always try to go out hard, giving myself a challenge to maintain pace and finish with an even split, as it happened, tonight I managed to finish with negative splits which are even better.  The air was cool, and running without any niggles or injuries in my trusty old Asics Nimbus 13s, the night was near perfect.

Running with the Sweatshop Running Comunity

Along the route, I was accompanied by my fellow runners from the popular SRC Manchester Arndale running community.  It’s a pleasure to run alongside people with similar goals and share a few laughs whilst burning near to 500 calories in total.  All in a night’s work.

I love running and enjoy the company of others at SRC.  However, the fact that the run takes place in the evening generally means that I stay up very late.  After running with SRC, I go to bed in the early hours of Wednesday morning due to the post-run adrenaline.  I do, however, experience better sleep quality when I finally do drift off so it isn’t all bad.   Tomorrow I’ll probably have to have a few coffees before starting work for the day but that’s not a bad price to pay for the enjoyment and freedom brought by my evening run.

Happy Running!