Seven days already since my first encounter with the Salford Harriers at the track but I didn't make the mistake of turning it into a second helping of speed work like last week! After a gentle jog as a warm up down the canal to the stadium I felt a bit more confident this week, though we had a different session (still speed intervals) so it took a friend to explain it a bit more before I cold dive in. We did five reps of a fast half lap (200 meters) followed by a 200m jog and then a fast 400m, while the more advanced group did the same but faster and with a lap and a half (600m) instead of our shorter version. If felt comfortably challenging if that makes sense; I had to push myself but I felt strong enough and though running in to the wind round half the track was tiring, as was trying to go as fast as I could whilst maintaining the pace wasn't exactly easy, it wasn't exactly supposed to be and I didn't feel like I was dying either! I was pleased that whilst I was still aware of Sunday's bruises it didn't appear to have a huge impact on my performance and my legs certainly felt a whole lot fresher than last week! I was able to jog home without too much trouble, though I felt a little stiffer for having stopped at the end for a chat. So far so good though and I seem to have got away with out aggravating the old IT band. I even risked a bit of a foam roll when I got in; I'd been a bit reluctant to use it on a bruised area but it seemed OK.

Of course I put this speedy recovery down in part to fuelling right and I've turned into a bit of a salad addict since the weather has been warmer. Ah no, I'm not talking 'salad' involving half a dozen limp, yellow leaves being chased round the plate by a wrinkly cherry tomato, I'm talking 'SALAD!', the kind that puts hairs on your chest and is basically just a cooked meal gone cold. I'm pretty sure this evening's energy burst was thanks to a healthy serving of this little carbo-protein power packet for lunch! 

Enough of that though... Dinners gone down in to my apparently hollow legs now  and I think I may just have time for pudding number two before bed!

Having spent much of the day waddling about like a timid penguin, not so much for actual pain as for fear of discovering some (I respect my iliotibial band and have no desire to aggravate it!) I eventually headed out, coaxed by the sun and the desire to put the bruising to the test. I actually went in to the gym first and did a cautious twenty minutes on the cross trainer before establishing that I actually felt OK and so it was with great relief that I enjoyed a short (4 and a bit mile), conservatively paced run along part of my favourite canal route, from city centre, down to the Manchester United football stadium. I t was a glorious evening, with so many wild flowers in bloom that I (almost) totally forgot a slight dull pain in my left leg  and was just filled with a sense of gratitude for living in a place with such ease of access to this beautiful route. Of course the sun always helps you feel better but I also put my speedy recovery down at least partially to my own Special Brew of home made essential oil blend and a keen awareness to the benefits of self massage (I always knew that qualifying as an aromatherapist would come in handy eventually!). If you're interested, try 2 drops of oregano oil in 50ml of carrier (such as sweet almond or grape seed oil). It's a wonderfully warming oil and contains a high percentage of phenols, which are believed to have antiinflammatory properties. It also makes you smell like pizza, which can never be bad. If, on the other hand, you prefer something less, erm, savoury, bung 3 drops of lavender in with it; that's a generic 'feel good' oil that you can't really go wrong with. Please be careful with oregano essential oil by the way and check the contraindications; it's a bit potent and I don't take responsibility for any adverse reactions!

Aside from that little detour into a fragrant world, the only other real running related news for today is that I spotted myself on the Salford Harriers weekly results for the ParkRun! I have a feeling that what was once just something to do on a Saturday morning is about to get a whole lot more competitive. Uh-oh!

This evening I joined my new friends at Salford Harriers for a very sunny run from their club house behind the Blue Bell hotel in Moston.

Upon arriving, I was surprised by just how busy it was, it certainly seems to be a popular club. I suspect the good weather aided the good turnout too! It was also nice, if a little worrying, to be recognised by one chap who was at the Littleborough 5k last week, though I suppose it's not that odd really, it was a fairly small, local race!

As it was my first visit, I took a conservative approach and didn't leap to join the group doing ten miles in an hour (!) and instead set off with a more gentle gaggle, though even this split into different paced chunks. Thankfully, I was able to keep pace with one of the people who actually knew where they were going, which is just as well as I had no idea whatsoever where I was and had left, amongst other things, my mobile and house keys in my friend's car! Getting split from the group would have been... eventful. It was interesting to get back and check out where I'd actually been, though I have to say with no real knowledge of the area I'm not much the wiser!

All in all, a good if gentle run and great to meet a few new faces and start to get to know people. Looking forward to the track again next Tuesday!

Hill reps tomorrow!

Ah, and in case you were at all curious as to what I did eventually end up doing with my unusually free evening last night, it will probably not come as too much of a shock to hear it involved FOOOOD!! I invented a new recipe! Shepless Pie; kind of like a Shepherds Pie, but a vegan version and with a Mediterranean flavour! Check it out here for the details!

Upon emerging victoriously from the basement (my gym is in a basement, it's great as you don't feel like you're in a fish bowl like I imagine I would in some of them I have walked past), I received a text from a new(ish) running friend confirming that she was indeed going to attend a track session tonight with the club of which she is a member; Salford Harriers and that she'd see me at 6.30. Ah. Had I known that I was going to a track session as a keen new potential club member I might not have hammered it quite so hard on my speed sessions. Oh well.

After a gentle jog (very gentle; I had heavy legs by the time I got out of work!) down to the Etihad Stadium and the Athletics Centre on site where the club meet,  I was welcomed warmly to the group, which split into a few groups of different level runners. I joined the slowest track group and participated in a session in which we did 10 laps of the track, with a short recovery walk in between. Though I didn't feel I was performing at my strongest I really enjoyed it and was very pleased that I was able to join in at all, having started the day with such a hard session. I was pretty excited to hand in my application form and membership subscription there and then too and hope to receive my UKA number soon! I even got a new higher VO2 max reading from the session, it must be improving my performance already!

Funnily enough, I didn't feel too lazy for accepting a lift back into town tonight, and by the time I got to it, dinner didn't touch the sides! Blimey, such an eventful day, I hope I'm not totally dead tomorrow. Guess who's wearing knee-high compression socks to bed tonight despite the humidity!  You're only as good as the workout you recover from after all!