Sunday, 31 January 2010

In the morning I walked the dog for a couple of hours on the mountain above Vilassar. So when I ran in the afternoon I felt a little burned out especially in the thighs. For the run I went up the "back way" to the Font de Sant Mateu. There was even a tiny dribble of water coming out of the spring. The winter rains have been adding to the ground water. From the spring I ran down to Can Boquet then up past la Roca d'en Toni and on to el Coll de la Gironella. My time was a disappointing 36 minutes 40 seconds. I did have to pause at one point so the time would have been better. After a break and some stretching I returned to Can Boquet and then the long way back to Vilassar via the Cabrils road to finish at Can Rafart. It was a gray overcast day and it rained on me early in the run. This was the second run with my new shoes and they caused me no problems. They were comfortable.

Friday, 29 January 2010

After work I ran down to Premia de Mar and ran my now regular route along the Passeig Maritim. I timed myself at 29 minutes 40 seconds over the usual segment of the seafront. As I ran I hoped for a better time. I felt that I should have had a better time judging from the way I was running. I ran as far as the rail tunnel before turning back. On the way back I put in five or so sprints. The full moon was helpful for judging the ground after it got dark.

Wednesday, 27 January 2010

After work I jogged down to Premia and ran along the sea. Before the run I felt somewhat nervous. I timed myself from Premia station to the el Masnou-Mongat line in 29 minutes 35 seconds. I felt that I had run better than that. Perhaps I missed timed the run. I felt a bit stiff during the day likely due to the sprints that I did on Monday evening. Total time for the run today an hour and twenty minutes.

Monday, 25 January 2010

It was a short run today. I warmed up at the Fornaca and then jogged up to the park with the cypress trees. There I put in some sprints along the adjacent sidewalk. I jogged from one end and then dashed back to the other end. I did seven laps and then headed home. I am not much or a sprinter. The sprints lasted perhaps two minutes. It took me two or three laps before I felt properly warmed up.

Saturday, 23 January 2010

There was a cool wind from the north-east, generally blowing parallel to the sea shore. It was a cold day but at least the sun was out. I ran my usual warm-up from Vilassar de Dalt down to Premia the Mar. From there I headed out toward Barcelona following my regular route. However, I felt very unmotivated and lethargic and I did not really push myself. I was more interested in putting in the mileage. Instead of turning back at the el Masnou-Mongat line or the rail tunnel I pushed on to Badalona. That way I avoided running back against a head wind. I hopped on to the train at Badalona and returned to Premia de Mar to catch the Vilassar bus. The total time for the run was an hour and a half.

Tuesday, 19 January 2010

It had been a gray, heavily overcast, day with a steady rain for most of it. By the time I set out to run, just after work, the rain had stopped. With the rain had come some warmer temperatures and I was able to run comfortably in a t-shirt with a long sleeve shirt over top and shorts.
I set off for Premia de Mar and was at the rail station in about 18 minutes. I timed the run from Premia station to the el Masnou-Mongat line. There was a slight head wind and I did not really push the first part. Besides, in some places the Passeig Maritim was very muddy making the footing a bit problematic. By the time I had reached Ocata, and the better surfaces, I was getting some good speed. I did have to watch my footing and slow down when I crossed the riera just beyond the el Masnou harbour. I had very good speed on the last section over the paving stones. My time was, however, disappointing at 29 minutes 35 seconds. The slow pace at the start and having to dodge puddles had something to do to the time.
I ran on to the rail tunnel just beyond the Mongat Nord station. I did a bit of stretching and back I went. The return was better than usual although I was tiring noticeably in the last half of the return. Also I had some trouble in the dark judging the ground and avoiding the puddles was even harder. Despite that I seemed to be able to maintain a better usual average speed. I was tired and achy in the hips but not so bad as some of the runs over the same distance of a month or so ago.

Sunday, 17 January 2010

I felt sufficiently recovered from yesterday's run to try again today. In the morning I had a leisurely walk with the dog. We, or rather I, spotted a pheasant in the tall grass. I had to draw the dog's attention to the it by throwing dog biscuits toward the bird. The dog found the biscuit but head down it failed to see the bird ten feet from it. The bird finally lost its nerve and flew up and away. It was a hunting day and the pheasant flew down toward the town and with the hope of surviving the day.
In the afternoon I felt ready for another run and I wanted to run in the mountain. At about half past two I set off in a slight drizzle. A low cloud covered the mountain from an elevation of 300 metres so that the whole ridge was covered in fog.
I went up the back way via the Turo d'en Cases to the Font de Sant Mateu. The road was quite muddy in places but the footing was never a problem. I timed myself from Sant Mateu to el Coll de la Gironella. Normally, I had run this distance in the other direction and theorectically I should have been faster today. This is because Sant Mateu is at a higher elevation than the Coll de la Gironella. My time was 34 minutes 35 seconds. The best that I had done in the other direction has been 34 minutes 55 seconds.
I ran with what I that was a good pace and did not push myself. The rain and fog gave me some trouble by fogging up my glasses and in a few places I had to be careful of my footing. So that slowed me up a bit. I finished the run by returning to Can Boquet and down to town by the Cami de la Costa. Total run was about one hour and 45 minutes.

Saturday, 16 January 2010

I had hoped to run on Friday after work but I had to stay and help out with some business. By the time I was done it was late and I was in no mood to run. However, I was able to run this morning. Around half past nine I set off down to Premia de Mar, holding back a bit so as to have a good warm up. In fact, I seemed to get down to Premia a little bit faster than usual. I timed myself from Premia station to the el Masnou-Mongat line in about 28 minutes and 20 seconds running into a headwind to boot.
After reaching the line I went on for another ten minutes or so to the Barcelona side of the railway tunnel. There I stretched and took some water before heading back. I knew it was going to be slow going back. Timing the return leg of my timed section in almost exactly 30 minutes, even with the tail wind. The legs felt heavy around the thighs. By the time I got back to Premia station I was very tired. The total time for the workout was about an hour and 40 minutes. Estimate the distance covered to be about 18 kilometres.