Another month into my 10-month, 10-mile challenge and reality has kicked in. Running in the Summer, during the warm evenings with all of the sights, sounds and smells of a dusky evening is a distant memory now. Now the clocks have gone back and, other than the weekends, I have no choice but to run in the dark. The days are getting colder and the weather is no longer treating me so kindly but I'm proud to say that I've kept running.
Running club has helped. I am still doing a regular speed session once a week to try and pick up my pace (and it's working). Running with a group (and having to pay for the privilege) helps to ensure that I get myself up and out of the door.
This month I've scaled back the distances I was running. I had made it up to 15km on my weekend runs and I had really noticed that this has improved the strength in my legs (and in my head). But this month I've made the conscious decision to drop the distances back to no more than 10km so that I can prepare for a series of 10k races that I have booked over the coming months while really working on getting faster - not further.
Since I last wrote, I have managed to fulfill another big milestone in my running journey - the ability to run 5km in less than 30 minutes. 29:35 to be precise! I guess the next challenge is to carry on this pace and crack the 1 hour 10k but I still have another 5 minutes to knock off that one!
Today I raced my first ever 10k race in the fog through the countryside just outside Swindon. I wasn't really in the mood so my game plan was thrown out of the window straight away but I still managed to knock 55 seconds off my 10k best which now stands at 1:05:05.
I'm really enjoying my running at present. I enjoy it most when I'm alone because I have time with my own thoughts but I still find it fairly fun when I'm running as part of a group. One of my best ever runs was a cold, dark run between 8 and 9 at night while it was hammering down with rain. We were running sprints so I couldn't stop to avoid puddles as I ran which resulted in water up to my knees on a couple of occasions. This time last year I would have thought it was the stuff of nightmares but for some reason, that night, despite being soaked to the bone, I ABSOLUTELY loved it.
Plans for the coming month include starting my half-marathon training plan and running an off-road 10km race. I really have caught the running bug, haven't I?!?
Running club has helped. I am still doing a regular speed session once a week to try and pick up my pace (and it's working). Running with a group (and having to pay for the privilege) helps to ensure that I get myself up and out of the door.
This month I've scaled back the distances I was running. I had made it up to 15km on my weekend runs and I had really noticed that this has improved the strength in my legs (and in my head). But this month I've made the conscious decision to drop the distances back to no more than 10km so that I can prepare for a series of 10k races that I have booked over the coming months while really working on getting faster - not further.
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| Post-Race Selfie! |
Since I last wrote, I have managed to fulfill another big milestone in my running journey - the ability to run 5km in less than 30 minutes. 29:35 to be precise! I guess the next challenge is to carry on this pace and crack the 1 hour 10k but I still have another 5 minutes to knock off that one!
Today I raced my first ever 10k race in the fog through the countryside just outside Swindon. I wasn't really in the mood so my game plan was thrown out of the window straight away but I still managed to knock 55 seconds off my 10k best which now stands at 1:05:05.
I'm really enjoying my running at present. I enjoy it most when I'm alone because I have time with my own thoughts but I still find it fairly fun when I'm running as part of a group. One of my best ever runs was a cold, dark run between 8 and 9 at night while it was hammering down with rain. We were running sprints so I couldn't stop to avoid puddles as I ran which resulted in water up to my knees on a couple of occasions. This time last year I would have thought it was the stuff of nightmares but for some reason, that night, despite being soaked to the bone, I ABSOLUTELY loved it.
Plans for the coming month include starting my half-marathon training plan and running an off-road 10km race. I really have caught the running bug, haven't I?!?
