It's winter now.
I've named a specific and very predictable period near the beginning of each of my runs. It usually begins about 1 minute into my run and lasts for at most 2-5 minutes, after which it disappears. I've called it the 'honey run' period. This is because, during this period, it feels like I'm running through honey, i.e it's specifically more difficult. I wonder if it coincides with any specific process such as the jump from anaerobic to aerobic energy system or something specific like that.
I've found that on the run back, that if I stop and wait a while (about 1 minute), and then set off again, the remainder of the run has a totally different feel to it. For example, my stride and technique, seem different and more natural and less laboured. I find that my arms and my hips move differently and it's actually more comfortable. My current thinking is that leading up to this point, that I'm tiring and my technique is poor and needs resetting so to speak. This seems to do it for me.
Interestingly, I was told once by my running partner while running along with Southwark, of her need to 'reset' her technique during her run, which I amusedly dismissed, particularly because of the way she did it - she would double-jump up in the middle of her stride. Surely there was no utility in doing that? Perhaps she was on to something after all.
I looked at my Vo2 max readings recently and it has been hovering around 56, however recently it has moved up to 60 which seems to indicate that I'm getting fitter, which is good. I do wonder at times if the temperate outside is a co-founding factor in some way.
To deal with the cold, which is exacerbated by icy winds, I've found that wearing a cold-weather Catebury base layer under a thin running top mitigates the cold. This, coupled with a neck covering and a pair of running gloves is very effective. On the run back, I tend to wrap my tracksuit bottoms around my waist and run in my shorts as I've sufficiently warm by then - I wear long tracksuit bottoms initially.