Despite the fact I accidentally started week five at the end of the last week, I decided to repeat the run for the legitimate week five.

Week 5, Day 1

Run 9 min/walk 1 min. Repeat x 4.

So, this was the first run after a bit of a break. It was appalling and I was disappointed. I wasn’t bitter about the run, really, I chalked it up to one of those bad days, but I had so been looking forward to it.

There were a few tough things, my iPod broke again (not going to bother with the app anymore, more hassle than it’s worth), and I couldn’t get a rhythm at all. The above pace line is ridiculously up and down.

On the positive side, at one point I ran past some kids playing football and one of them said to another: “Kick the ball here, but mind the jogger.”

That’s me! I’m an actual jogger! Not just someone deluding themselves into thinking they can lumber around and stuff. A jogger! Awesomeness.

Week 5, Day 2

Run 9 min/walk 1 min. Repeat x 4.

After two fails, I’ve officially given up with the Ease into 10k app. I spent some time perusing the intricate details of the Runkeeper app on my phone and switched on the minute by minute alerts.

Armed with the knowledge that I was meant to run 9 minutes at a time, and after some quick maths in my head, I set off.

The 60 second updates were actually really interesting. I wasn’t sure at first because I thought it would make the time drag, but in fact, I learnt a lot.

The first run, my average pace was constantly 9:40, then each run following that I got about ten seconds slower, until eventually ending with the 10:10 you can see above.

So is that a) that I am going too fast initially and running out of steam or b) that I just don’t have the fitness to get to the end in a sensible fashion yet and that will come?

I never would have been asking questions like this before.

Regarding the run itself, it felt good. My knees were a bit creaky, and obviously I got slower as it went on, but I ran without music (can’t be doing with trying to force music onto my phone) and really felt a good rhythm throughout.

Week 5, Day 3

Run 9 min/walk 1 min. Repeat x 4.

Following on from the questions I asked after the last run, today was basically what I think running is all about. I consciously started off a bit slower, and my average pace time settled around 9:50, then throughout, I managed to keep it hovering around the 10 minute mark, taking into account the walks as well.

After the third run, it had crept up to about 10:11, and I was annoyed, but suddenly, I found I actually had enough in the tank to speed it up a bit on the final run. Minute by minute went by and the average pace crept down. I wasn’t actually expecting to get under 10, but as you can see… I did!

With all that to focus on, I wasn’t particularly conscious of any aches and pains, and that made the entire thing a lot easier.

Plus, all this in that disgusting drizzle that gets you totally soaking without actually appearing to drip on you.

I don’t know if my body was just in a good mood today, or if the tweaks I’m making to the way I run are actually helping - it’s probably too soon to say. But today was a good day, a thousand miles away from where I started at the beginning of this week.