More evidence of Small Dog Syndrome!

Monday 28/08/06:
Rest day, despite the plan calling for 25min jogging. Needed a bit of extra sleep, plus had others to organise with a rental car, etc, etc. Besides, feel 5 days of running per week is enough at this stage of the programme!

Tuesday 29/08/06:
Plan called for 40mins including 20mins "up-tempo".

Out at 5.45am in rather pleasant conditions. Rooster crows sounded far closer than normal and I could also hear Pukekos squarking and squabbling by the duck pond!

I've got quite used to varying my paces on runs now, its something I used to find extremely difficult, so tended to always run at the same steady pace regardless. However today I tried something a little different than the plan stated, but sure it is still beneficial.

Did the first 10mins at easy pace, the next 10mins at steady pace and the final 10mins at hard pace.

Brisk walk warmup: 5mins
Escalating pace run: 30mins (6km)
Brisk walk cooldown: 5mins

Found this kept it interesting and quite satisfying. The last part was hard going and I was breathing really hard by the end, but recovery was quick.

Oh and mustn't forget to mention that just before turn around, I was running past a driveway just as the male owner opened his front door to grab his newspaper. However his small, fluffy dog spotted me and was out the door and the driveway like a shot, in hot pursuit. No amount of yelling from the man would stop him and he was right at my heels! By the time we were 2-3 houses away I realised he was not going to give up easily, so turned round and ran back towards the house and owner, followed closely by the dog who was yapping loudly the whole time! When we reached the owner, who was by this time apologising profusely, he grabbed the dog and I turned around again and carried on my way! Crazy mutt!