The first month of the year is over and I set a new record for myself. This is the first time that I've managed to run 13 times in the one month, my previous best was 12. Since my last post on the 17th of January I've manged to get in another 5 runs in January and 1 so far in February sticking with the training plan laid out for me by myasics.co.uk.
The last 5 runs in January comprised of four 8km runs and one 5km run. When I saw the 5km on the schedule I decided to see what pace I could keep for the 5km just to see where I am in terms of fitness compared to a few years ago when I managed to run 5km in under 22 minutes. The result wasn't bad a nice 23 minutes and 39 seconds, my 3rd fastest 5km according to Strava. The training for the Paris marathon is going well so far and the Achilles injury is being managed as best I can. The niggles are still there and some days it is tough to run and I'm a bit weary of what I can do but so far so good.
The last run of January was supposed to be a 16km run, which would have been my longest for two years but with stormy weather battering Ireland I decided to postpone the run until this morning when the weather was much better with a touch of blue sky. It also gave my Achilles a bit of a break, which was needed. This mornings run we went out of town and across back roads and it was a lovely run. It is great to get off the main roads and out of the town some times and see the countryside. I ran with my Nathan endurance vest again today and have to say that I'm loving it so far. It is great not having to carry your water with you and now I'm bringing my phone with me on long runs. This was handy today because when I turned on my Garmin Forerunner 305 the battery was dead, I must have forgotten to turn it off after Wednesday's run. Out came the phone and I used the Strava app for the first time to record the run, no HRM though.
Here's to February, 12 runs and a possible 132km
