Movember Here I Come

Since I seem to have got some semblance of a running mojo back I have decided to run my first race of 2013.  November is Movember, a time to grow a mustache to raise awareness of men's health and there is a Movember 10km run in Dublin on the 16th of November.  I haven't decided yet if I will try to sport a mustache or not during the month but with as the run is also 2 days after my birthday I felt it was a good way to celebrate.  And besides, who wouldn't want the Mo-Running Medal

Mo Runner Medal

I've been running consistently enough, well... consistently for me, since July and since the start of August have got out for between 1 and 4 runs a week, reaching 80km for the month of September and 40km so far this month.  I've even managed three 10k  runs in the past 4 weeks with one, according to Strava being my 3rd fastest 10km.  It's nice to log onto Strava and see a blue bar indicating a run, week after week.  Now to keep that momentum going.

False Starts

I've had many false starts over the past two years in trying to get back into running.  I would decide to go back running, write a blog post and subsequently renege on the goals I had set.  After my latest false start in January of this year I decided only to post again once I've actually got back into running.  So how am I doing...

I've been running frequently again since July, starting with 2km runs and building up, slowly.  I decided to take it easy and not push to hard as previous attempts to came back strong resulted in injury.  I set myself a target of running almost every second day in July to try and build up a habit and in the end managed 11 runs and 47km.  In August I manged 8 runs but also reached 47km and now in September I've run 9 times, with one more run scheduled for tomorrow and have reached 71km so far.  I'm starting to feel the love and excitement of running returning.

I am 3 runs short of my total runs for last year and feeling good.

A Little Bit of Lunacy Goes a Long Way

Today was the first run of 2013 for me.  I decided to keeping enjoying the Christmas period into the first week of January and I began my New Year on Sunday by putting together a plan for the year.  In 2011 I had a plan and it resulted in me running over 900km.  Last year there was no plan and no races and I ran just over 200km.  I guess the statement is true, If you fail to plan, you plan to fail...

Yesterday I began my New Year plan with 30 minutes of easy core exercises and today was my first run.  It was a cold one out there tonight, about 3ºC and the frost was coming in.  I spent a few minutes trying to find a hat but I did't know where I left it so I just laced up my kinvaras and went.

Out in the cold I felt great running for the first 500m or so and felt in a bit of a rhytmn. I knew I was running a bit faster than I should be but i was enjoying the feel of it, I just didn't think I could last 5km at this pace.  When I hit the 1km at 4:59 I thought that was nice now slow it down a bit.  It's funny, I remember in 2011 when I broke 6:00 for a km for the first time and it felt great and breaking 5:00 seemed like a myth and here I broke 5:00, but having only run twice in the last 56 days and spoadically in 2011 I knew I needed to slow down.

2km 5:04 and I was starting to feel tired but also creeping into my head was the crazy thought of runing 5km in under 25 minutes.  3km 5:03 and I was starting to feel the pain of pushing myself a bit too much, yet I could feel that this was a possiblity. 4km 4:44, maybe I had put too much into that km and I wondered if I had anything left for the final km.  I kept telling myself that I could do this but was starting to feel a little lightheaded from pushing too hard.  Final km 4:42 and a total of 24:32 for 5km.  The fastest 5km I've run since October 2011.

I know I really shouldn't have pushed that hard as I'm only getting back and with my HR maxing out at 203 it was a bit of lunacy but I think I needed it.  I needed to know that I could do it and that I could push myself and that I wanted to do it.  I needed this to kick start the year and while I feel sore I feel great.

I've a feeling this will be a great year.  Wishing everyone else out there a great year too.  Happy New Year.

A Year In Review - 2012

So another year is coming to a close. 2012 has quickly come and is on it's way out. How was the running year for you?  Hopefully it was one full of good training, good races and great times.  This year for me was one of no races and very little running.

In comparison with 2011 where I ran 100 times in the year, (a run every 3.65 days), this year I managed to get out 46 times, (almost a run every 8 days).  While it was under half the number of runs from 2011 it was the difference in distance that got me when I looked at it.  In 2011 I managed to cover 922.52km compared with 225.7km this year.

On reflection I'm hoping, well planning, that 2013 will be a more productive year running wise.  I still have all my goals from this year to achieve and I will achieve them in 2013.  I'm also planning to get in four races at the very least next year, a 5km, a 10km, a half marathon and one other distance to be decided in the next while, maybe a 5 miler.

I also have one other goal but I'm going to keep that to myself until the summer and hopefully when I blog about it I will be on course to achieving that too.

Here goes to a New Year and a new start.  Wishing you all the best for 2013 in your personal, professional and running life.  Bring it on...