Training: a bus ride, a mosque, and a gurdwara

That's the last time I get the #30 bus to start a run; it stopped at a bus stop every 50 yards! So slow.

Nonetheless it got me up to Elswick before I gave up on it and started my route. I was expecting Fenham, but it was taking too long. Anyway, I had no specific route planned; it could've taken me anywhere and I just would've got off when I felt it was time to get back to the office.

The mosque, with an awesome minaret, near where I got off the #30

Figuring I was still too close to the office to make the return a 5K, I headed further into Elswick. That took me to the entrance to Elswick Crematorium, where I've run before. Being allergic to repetition, I turned away from it and ran towards West Road. Which was uphill. Frankly, I'd had enough uphill yesterday, but such is my need to explore. 🤷

When Google called out the first 5 minutes (I've changed from distance splits to time, in prep for the orienteering score event on the 25th), it reckoned I was on a 5:35/km pace. And that sowed the seed for the rest of the run: could I get back to the office pulling that back to an average pace of 5:00/km? It was mostly downhill from here, so I reckoned it was doable.

Spoiler time: I did. And didn't. Google's run summary shows 5:00/km, but the accurate figure is around 5:02/km.

So even if it's officially a fail, I'm still pretty happy with it. There are some decent kilometre paces in there, even accounting for the mostly downhill nature of the run. And I paused for a photo of an impressive-looking Sikh temple without pausing the timing:

Gurdwara Sri Guru Singh Sabha, Newcastle

So pulling a first-kilometre deficit like that was pleasing. Especially as my second kilometre (partly uphill) was also slower than my overall target pace. The only slight regret is that I didn't actually get 5K in today... but at the time, I was more than happy to stop. 😂

Question now is: do I run again tomorrow, or do I leave it till parkrun? I'm tempted to go again, as parkrun isn't a very solid fixture these days... 🤔

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