Incremental Time Building

Have the new shoes done the trick?
Is it the stretching finally paying off?
Have my compression tights performed a miracle?
Or was I just having a good day??

All these questions need answering after an ordinary run this morning at 5:30am. I stepped out onto the porch to put my shoes on and noticed the ground was very wet and the sound of running water was prominent in the still pre-dawn air. Thrusting an inquisitive hand out from under the shelter of the porch I determined that it was not raining and I didn’t get out of bed for nothing. Other thoughts flashing through my mind at the time - “I could go back to bed for another 1hr…mmmm bed.” - “If I get rained on my white t-shirt will become completely see through”.
And then there was Garmy, only 1hr of battery life remaining, do’h, ok 7km it is.
For the first 4km I felt like I was taking it easy, but struggling still, and they went by in 28mins or 7mins/km, I started to pick up the pace on the 5th Km, helped mainly by the inertia of my 117kg and the slight decline in elevation, the 6th km was at the fastest pace for the run completed in 5min45sec again helped along by inertia and the increasing decline. I slowed it down for the last km not wanting to put too much strain on anything down the steepest decline. All up 7km in 46mins, so why all the questions?
The ITB didn’t feel as tight as normal this morning, it was quite bearable. I reflected on this while I stood outside my house in the dawn light, steaming up the atmosphere and doing some stretches. It never ceases to amaze me how good it feels after an early morning run with the rest of the day ahead and the blood all ready powering through the body and brain. In terms of answers to my opening question, I will use the phrase: “A little from column A, a little from column B”:

Second Corporate Cup tomorrow, in light of the 10k race on Sunday and the way my legs felt after the last Cup run I might take my camera, op for an easy run and snap lots of photos.

Note: Incremental Time Building or ITB is my new motto for getting back up to HM distance.