Just for general wonderings…
‘Why Running Matters’ by Ian Mortimer
First book of the year. It’s a running book. I love a running book.
This book was ok. It follows a fella in his year of running. Quite a lot of, I did a parkrun with my son, I beat him, I beat him, he nearly beat me, he nearly beat me, I only just beat him….he beat me.
A fairly interesting read all the same.
We are away for the weekend as soon as school finishes, so it meant a very early run.
Dedication.
Alarm went off at 6am and I was in the garage on the treadmill by 6.10am.
3.10 miles at a very gentle pace. Listening to the album ‘Doom Days’ by Bastille – I great album to run to.
Totals:
Runs = 9
Mileage = 33.89
Swims = 1 (600m)
I know the plan for Janathon was to run every day, but I normally swim on a Thursday, so I’ve decided that a swim is quite enough.
I’m not a great swimmer, I’m knackered after the usual half-hour in the pool and the thought of then going for a run is just too much.
I did 38 lengths of the school’s weird 15.8 metre pool. 600m.
Totals:
Runs = 8
Mileage = 30.79
Swims = 1 (600m)
On a Wednesday I normally go for a run round the school field. I like it. It gets the run done nice and early.
It didn’t happened today.
Instead the school sprung a ‘Whole School Twilight Meeting’ on us – this was not part of my plan.
It meant a run in the dark around the village. It was also very cold so I was layered up and wearing the new fantastic head-torch. 4.34 miles.
I was joined on this evenings run by Anna Erhard and her fabulous album ‘Botanical Garden’, probably my favourite album of 2024.
Strava’s Athlete Intelligence was slightly more positive about tonight’s run:
Solid nighttime run with a faster pace than your 30-day average, pushing into endurance zones and maintaining consistent effort.
Totals:
Runs = 8
Mileage = 30.79
Have a listen to the best track on the Erhard’s album, ‘Botanical Garden’.
I squeezed the run in between getting in from work, eating dinner and going out again.
So it was a quicker small loop of the village.
Strava’s Intelligence Athlete agreed with me:
Quick, efficient run with faster pace than recent averages, showing improved speed and maintaining a steady effort across all miles
Totals:
Runs = 7
Mileage = 26.45
I’m a completely different runner when I’m using a treadmill.
Let me give you some context. When I go for a run I’m the sort of runner who just leaves the house, closes the door and then runs. I very rarely do any warm-up or stretching.
Similarly, when I’ve finished running, I collapse on the chair. That’s slightly unfair, I might do the odd couple of stretches, but never more than 30 seconds.
But when I’m on the treadmill I’m completely different. Tonight was the perfect example.
Today was the first day back at school after the Christmas break, it was a teacher training day, no students in, but still a long day of listening to endless presentations. Therefore, when I got home, the thought of going for a run in the dark, cold and windy evening was just too much. So it was a treadmill run.
It went like this:
I would never have done all the extra stuff if I was going for a run outside. I know I should, I just find it difficult to do.
Anyway, tonight’s treadmill run was 4.35 miles in total. 50 mins in the garage.
Strava Athlete Intelligence had this to say:
Treadmill run with consistent pacing across miles, maintaining a steady effort in Active Recovery zones despite slightly slower pace.
I’m not sure I’m happy with Strava’s dig at me with the ‘despite the slightly slower pace’.
The sounds tonight were from the fabulous Frank Turner.
Totals:
Runs = 6
Mileage = 23.34
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