Running again - counting down To Reading Half

I'm back and running again. After a nasty cold & sinus issue, I'd taken a sensible few weeks off but I got a clean bill of health from the doctor and so I started running again with the intention of being ready on the start line for the Reading Half this coming Sunday.

My first run on Sunday wasn't the best ever but it did the job. The rain came to see me as it often tends to do, but it went OK. Not my best run ever - far from it really as shown by a relatively poor VO2 max score - but the point of the run was that I ran safely with no ill effects. In that sense it was perfect.

I got out for another run tonight. This time I ran for 35 minutes and aimed to push my heart rate that little bit higher. In the end I did what I set out to do but my speed was a little low for my heart rate (or vice versa I suppose) but it was better. I ran the final mile or so at around 2-hour half marathon pace so it was good preparation even though it's not at all certain what speed I'm going to set out on during the race.

I'm planning two more sessions - tomorrow and Thursday - although I'd accept getting to do only one of those if circumstances get in the way. Both quite light sessions preparing me for Sunday's event. At this stage I can only hope I've done enough to overcome my illness and achieve something in Reading. Whatever happens I'm really looking forward to it all.

While I'm here I thought I'd post my running music playlist on these pages - specifically this one. I don't profess that there's a load of inspirational Half-marathon tunes on here. Nope, this is just my personal selection at the moment. I'll try and keep this up to date but can't promise! My favourite running tune at the moment is the new Chainsmokers / Coldplay one. All this being said, I can't run with music on in Reading this weekend so it's all a bit irrelevant for now!