An easy weekend

A successful end to the first of twenty six weeks on the road to Helsinki. In terms of training I think it's the first week I've managed all four planned runs. There was a slight change yesterday as I decided not to work so the planned parkrun was deferred and replaced with an easy run.
The weekend afforded me some daylight, allowing me to rediscover the local routes normally unavailable due to the shroud of early morning darkness.
Yesterday I was back on the loop. A nice, undulating 7km lap of Stansted. I intended to run easy, but found my pace to be good throughout. This meant I was able to push the pace in the final uphill part of the run.
Today I decided to take on a lap of Elsenham. Again the pace was meant to be easy, this didn't seem to be the case though. I seemed to have rhythm and every five minute section was more in the steady range, 5:30-5:40 per km. In fact I was back in Stansted even earlier than planned. As I was intending to run for an hour this meant adding distance. It was only in the final ten minutes that my pace slipped slightly, negotiating the last climb home.
As weekends go, it was an excellent one. To have two runs in which I had plenty of capacity for pace and a good rhythm made for a very positive couple of days. They'll be ups and downs along the journey to Helsinki, it's these good days that need to be remembered.
With a successful weekend behind me it was time to indulge on some food. This evening we entertained Paula's folks and treated them to a speciality of mine; a slice of Americana. We laid on a spread of pulled pork (slow cooked in beer for nine hours), three cheese Mac & Cheese, slaw & some spinach blanched in garlic to ensure at least some greenery!!! I might need to double up the sprint sessions next week to make up for the stodge!!