Thanks Paul…

I had been planning in my head since the weekend to attempt another 10K run. I had planned to head out with the same routine I did on Saturday with the intention of hitting the magic 10K again.

Mentally this sounded like the right thing to do and buoyed up by my elation for hitting 10K I wanted to prove I could do it again.

I admit I have been a bit sore since the weekend. I have also been falling sound asleep on the train which is worrying as I could end up in Ipswich or Norwich!

This evening I woke up a couple stations from home and had one of those post cat nap stinging headaches. It was then I realised how tired I was. I decided to reach for my iPhone and drop a quick note to my running guru Paul. I simply asked:

“Do you think I'm mad to try and do a 10K this evening?”

Thankfully I received a swift and sensible response:

“Yes. Take it easy and go for a gentle run instead. You need to rest to improve X”

I decided Paul was right and programmed iSmoothRun to complete a 30 minute run and boy was I glad I did.

I hammered my way through the first 15 minutes but I simply went too far, too fast and my body reacted. I started to get congested so put the brakes on and slowed my pace.

I continued running the remainder of the 30 minutes and clocked a fastest pace of 5:35 but this averaged out to 6 which is more sensible.

I am so glad I didn't try to push to do the same routine as Saturday as I simply don't think I have had enough time to recover or the energy. Paul was completely right. You should walk before you can run!

I did try the gloves I bought for the winter as it was colder today and there was a fair wind blowing. I had to lose them about of a third of the way in as my hands were feeling quite sweaty. Thankfully I was wearing my jacket so was able to put them in my pockets – albeit not very elegantly! At least I know they are in my jacket for when I need them.

Today's fastest song was DVNO by Justice but I honestly cannot remember hearing the track play. I know I was concentrating on my breathing and my footsteps so maybe I didn't hear it. I do believe I have to stop thinking about my breathing etc as this I feel can make matters worse.

I have a medical check up tomorrow and hope that I can find a way to sort out this breathing/congestion problem when I am running in the cold. I've had some good tips from the contributors on the Runners World forum but I do want some medical opinion too to ensure I am doing the right thing.

My sponsorship continues to creep up for both my races and once again I want to say thanks to those who have contributed to the Alzheimer's Society and the Colchester Hospital Cancer Centre through sponsoring me. Thank you.

I managed close to 6K tonight but had some problems with the GPS signal on my phone. I am getting increasingly bored with Vodafone. I tried to use the passbook Starbucks app in London but it didn't work thanks to the lack of data signal. How can the UKs biggest mobile phone company not provide the basic service I pay for. Crap!

Anyway a good run, I'm not in pain so the LunarGlides are fine. I'm also very grateful for the advice of my friends and support of my new online running community.