It seems very few things are impossible (apart from doing the extended puppy yoga pose without face planting first!). I did the 5 miles this morning. That’s 8.04672km, also known as a long way. We ran along the flat along the canal and we went for scenic rather than even path and headed towards Silsden/Skipton way. It also has the advantage of being slightly quieter than going the other way. We ran 2 minutes walked 30 seconds for most of it (see below – go me!) and we were out 1 hour, 7 minutes and 59 seconds which gives us an average pace of 13.37 minutes per mile. So how was it? Well I didn’t hate it. I remember some very young ducklings – 8 or so in a brood (they move, so counting is tricky) and further along there were some bright yellow ducklings – bathtub rubber duck lookalikes and very cute. There were also a few people out on bikes and one or two dog walkers but mostly it was quiet. So I remember stuff from the run which is a good sign. The first couple of runs were awful but then we settled into things and as we went through 1 mile it seemed to be going fine.

A little while after that 1 mile mark the path turns from proper footpath to just a track and grass bank and I lost all confidence in my footing. I felt like bambi on ice and had a couple of nasty little pulls in my calf muscle and in my left ankle. We slowed off dramatically with the pace dropping to something like 14.5 minutes per mile. I wobbled myself on to 2.5 miles and we turned round. I still felt a bit unsure of my footing for the next two runs and then something changed. Partly I just wanted to get off the uneven ground and partly I gave myself a right good talking to in my head. We started running again and I felt great (well I felt like I could go a bit faster and I wasn’t huffing and puffing); we missed out the next walk, I still felt strong, we missed out another walk. I ran for 7 minutes at what I now know was a fairly even pace around 13 minutes per mile. Then we walked our 30 second walk break and all felt pretty good. Another couple of runs later and it was starting to get hard but then, quite suddenly really, there was less than a mile left, then half a mile and from there I just kept going – focusing on the bridge where we started. 5 miles, done and I feel ok. I paced up and down a bit sucking in the air and then we walked back to the car. I was talking before we got in the car, I could breathe. I felt fine. I’ve had a shower, nothing hurts, all good. 5 miles. Done. Oh and for those of you are wondering what an extended puppy pose is. Here you are: The one on the left is from a yoga classes page – the one on the right is more akin to what I am sure I end up doing!