First run today for 6 days and didn’t feel good.  10 miles but very slow – 8 minutes slower than last 10 miler along the same route.  Pace almost 45 seconds per mile slower.

That would put me a mile behind me last week on the same route – rubbish really.

Things different today?

• Early run – started at 7:40am (recent ones have been around 11am)
• Not run for 6 days – normally max. 2 days between runs
• Too many mince pies over Christmas (and turkey curry last night)
• Slow starting pace

So are these excuses or genuine reasons why I was slower?  Good question.  The slower starting pace is the real killer – if you don’t feel good when you go and you naturally start off a bit slower, it’s very hard to pick up (as mentioned before).  Starting pace was about 8:02 but I then slowed down over the run – which is even worse!

The Christmas dinners and the usual excess of food and drink over the Christmas period may have affected the run – it does make a huge difference when running when full (or after a heavy meal the night before – or 5 nights before over Christmas) – but all worth it and we had a lovely Christmas.  Very much a family occasion for us and spent with grandparents and auntie and cousins.  And of course Father Christmas made his appearance on Christmas Eve and was caught on Noble CCTV coming down the chimney delivering presents.  Ho ho ho!