7 miles an hour!

Distance: 6.96 miles
Time: 58m02s
"Mile" 1 - 9m34s
"Mile" 2 - 8m27s
"Mile" 3 - 8m00s
"Mile" 4 - 8m01s
"Mile" 5 - 7m59s
"Mile" 6 - 8m00s
"Mile" 7 - 8m01s

I've joined the Didcot gym for a week, so I can work on some core muscle strengthening. The chap who showed me round was very helpful and showed me some exercises. One of them, on the leg press, looks a bit tricky, but I'll be back this evening to give it a go. Basically you use a very low weight and "run" on one foot, lifting off at the toe and landing on the heel and moving the foot around in a square. This mimics the running action and builds strength in all areas of the leg.

As I was going out yesterday evening, however, I didn't have time for exercises and an hour's "brisk" run, so I settled for just a speedy treadmill session on its own. I still haven't quite got the hang of counting in 1.609km units, so kept it simple at 1600m "laps". I set off at a steady pace to warm up for the first "mile", and then I set the treadmill to 12kph to go for a really brisk run.I had to pause on "mile" 2 as my towel dropped off the handrail, and there was a flash of pink under my feet as it sped off behind me. Back on again and back up to 12kph and there I kept it until the end of "mile" 7.

So in the end, wow!! Quite the fastest I've ever run over that kind of time and distance. I think that deserved the rather nice meal (and wine!) I had at The Shiraz on Oxford's Cowley Rd afterwards.