It's raining again...

Man, this has been a wet summer, even by Scottish standards.

It's raining now, as I write these words, having just put the kids to bed.

It was raining earlier when, after work, I did a short speed work-out at the track, before picking up the kids.

I didn't have a lot of time, but was keen to get some running in. I did a mile on the track as a warm up, at a 7 min pace. I had my rain jacket on, but took it off after this warm-up, as it was mild out, and I would be wet with sweat if I left it on.

Next I tried the work-out suggested to me by an old guy I met at the track several months ago.

I ran 1000 meters, basically as fast as I could, and then walked. The idea is to run the distance and rest all within 5 mins. Then you start again.

I'm not quite capable of this. Basically, I run my 1k in just over 4 mins, and then walk 100 meters further on the track to recover. This takes a bit longer than a minute. I might try a stretch then, and then I'm off again. It's tough. Today I did 4 x 1000 meters. I was soaked by the end.

My hope is that some speed work will help me to run a good race at my local 10k later in September. I've run it for a handful of years now, and my best time was 41 something. However, it turns out that the course was a bit short that year, so I don't know what my best 10k really is. I haven't been able to touch this time since.

On the positive side, this year some of the splits in my longer races haven't been that far off 42 mins for 6 miles. So, perhaps I can run strong.

I've just got to shake off this lethargy that's engulfed me lately...