Thursday 3 January 2013

34/31 yeah... I know, I know, those poor old legs...

yep you did read that right, 34/31 ie I've been running for 34 days - well it kinda goes like this...
Day 32 was New Year's Day and the lovely people at Strathclyde parkrun had put on a New Year's Day parkrun so it was only polite to go along and support and thank them for giving up their time, providing mulled wine, lovely goodies for post run nibbles and a chance to get the cobwebs blown away as you head back round Strathclyde Loch at kilometre 3!  This run was an exercise for me in keeping a consistent pace which is something I'm not very good at and need to work really hard at, so I was pleased with a respectable enough time, but even more pleased with a fairly flat line on the Garmin stats - this shows my pace was consistent, only increasing in the last 500m which was a big breakthrough for me in my head if nowhere else.
Then, 2nd January 2013 - yes it WAS only yesterday!  It feels like ages ago!  We went to Lenzie to take part in the Lenzie Jog - what a great wee event, well done to Kirkintilloch Olympians, who even managed to organise almost perfect running conditions :-)  as well as soup, roll and shortbread for after all for £1!  I opted for the single loop of the course, 4.5km John and some friends did 2 loops but I decided that one would be enough for me and hopefully I could build on my success from parkrun and manage another reasonably consistent run.  I not only managed it I finished in the top 25% of a race for the first time in  my life :-)  These are for some folk, minute achievements but they mean a lot to me and that's what it's all about.
I have set my goals for 2013, and along with the desire to continue to lose weight and get fit, my A goal this year is to complete the Highland Fling Ultra  27th of April and still be upright and possibly even smiling.  I would also like to achieve PBs at various distances so with discipline and consistency I'm hoping to hit them all.
So, today it was back to work, and I really wasn't sure whether to stop for a couple of days and then resume training at the weekend, although I woke with tired legs, I found myself packing a bag this morning. I'm not in my usual office until Monday, I'm working with the police in Larbert so as the sun came out at lunchtime, I found myself changed and off out for a wee explore of 'die umgebung' (one of my favourite German words).
I was only away half an hour and it was a stiff old pair of legs that slowly plodded the first km but picked up a wee bit for the next 2.5km and I felt heaps better after I'd done.  I thought I'd found a wee path back but it was a bit brambly and although I just thought I'd got a couple of wee scratches at the time, it transpires the back of my left leg is now covered in rather large weals - oops!
Ach well I'll put some germolene on them later :-)
I don't know what I'll do tomorrow, whether I'll take my shoes again or whether I'll rest, I think I am just going to listen to my body and if it feels up for it well we'll see...
I have entered 2 races in the past few days, the D33 ultra - well it opened early on Hogmanay and I was at the computer at the time... and the Devilla Forest 15k so I have a couple of shorter term goals now to look forward to before the Alloa Half Marathon and the ultimate goal for this year The Highland Fling.
More about them nearer the time, and back to fitcamp on Monday!
To those of you who don't go back to work until Monday enjoy the last few days of your holiday, personally I'm quite happy to have gone back on a Thurs as it makes the first week back a lot easier to get through when it's only 2 days long :-)

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