Janathon Eve

So 2011 was not one of my best running years. I entered the Paris Marathon but didn't run as my training was a non entity, so I'm hoping for a good 2012 on the running front.  Today I did my last run of 2011 and it was a good one.  I'm back taking baby steps again so planned on doing 5K but ended up doing just over 6 as I cunningly planned a route which meant finishing on a long downhill, but the ideal type of downhill, not at all steep but you are able to open up and keep the feet flying along.  I'm determined to see January as a chance to build up my fitness again and not to bite off more than I can chew from a running perspective.  I really do want to run every day in Jan, even if it is just for 15 mins.  Goodbye 2011, goodbye plod, hello 2012, increased fitness, faster feet, more miles and some races...

Preparation for Janathon

Christmas is always a good time for me to do some running with less pressure to be somewhere working on something or other, so I managed to have a run on Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and (what we Irish call) St Stephen's Day.  I travelled back to London yesterday and instead of hitting the road, I did some high level housework!  Full of good running intentions, I headed to the gym this morning determined to have a run before some weights and stretches, but was seduced by the spinning class which was just about to start as I arrived, luckily, it ended just before a quick abs class so I had people shouting encouragement at me for a full hour and think it worked out better than a treadmill run would have.  I still have little enthusiasm for running on the treadmill, but like to get to the gym for all the other stuff. Tomorrow I'll be back on the road and then back to the gym for more spinning on Friday!  I need to get my fitness up for Janathon so I think I'll do another Audiofuel session tomorrow morning...

Okay, time to gear up for Janathon 2012

Having had an enthusiasm start to Janathon last year but giving up after 11 days, I am back to try again. Running in the dark and cold every day for 31 days is what I need to rekindle my love of running. Ready, steady, just have to remember my password for the site to log my miles and it is go...

Day 10- not exactly my plan

Day 10, alarm set for 6.45 as I intended to hit the road at 7 and try for 8-10k.  Instead i hit snooze and didn't wake up for more than another hour.  Opps, not my day was all messed up. I had to get to work and was meeting a friend after work and then planned in fitting in a 9pm yoga class.  I thought that I would try to meet my friend 30 mins earlier and slip in a quick run before yoga but as my day progressed I needed every minute I could get and realised that I could either run or do yoga so as it is Janathon, I opted for a run.  I needed to be home for a call at 9.30 so I got home and only had 25 mins to get out and back so I set the ipod for 20 mins, tried to up the pace and happily I managed 3k in 19 mins.  Not by any means a personal best, but I have to remember that I'm trying to regain my fitness and loose some weight before I can do proper training again. As it started raining heavily during the last 10 mins, I headed home and was just at my street when I got up to 3k so didn't do the extra min!  Opps. Tomorrow I have to be up early as I have to be at the gym at 8 for personal training and need to get my run in before this. I think I'll just try for 25 mins and a good hard gym session tomorrow.  This week is very busy so I'll be struggling to get any decent runs in.  At least I've managed to run (even if mostly very short runs) every day so far and it is all starting to feel a bit better. 

Until tomorrow!

Day 9- back to running in the dark

So today I returned to running in the dark after my lovely sunny riverside run yesterday.  I learned my lesson about yoga before running on Friday so had to get my run out of the way before heading to a 9am bikram class.  My days of getting up at 5 to hit the road at 5.30am on Sunday mornings are distant memories so I struggled out at 7 something and decided to do a short 20 min run.  I ran uphill on the way out and then downhill on the way back so I factored that in, long slow slog up the hill and a better pace on the way back down.  I need to plan my week today so that I get a few longer runs in.  I can't keep using my lack of fitness and weight gain as an excuse for so many short runs!  Anyway, I jumped in the shower and got ready for bikram, the class was mopped today, more and more people kept piling in. I suppose everyone is on their January fitness kick.  90 mins of sweating and bending later and I felt good and rewarded myself with 90 mins of tv before coming to work.  Hopefully I'll have a good run in the morning, although of course it will be dark!

Over and out...

Day 8, perfect running conditions

So day 8 and I was determined to have a decent run.  I was feeling very tired and miserable so didn't get out until the afternoon, but by then the weather was perfect.  Blue sky, bright sun and cold breeze.  I went for one of my favourite runs along the river Lee.  I've been away for 4 months and I did a short run here last week but today went further and realised that there has been a lot of regeneration work done since I've been away.  This is one of my original running routes and I'm glad it is even nicer now.  The swans and rowers were out in force and it helped me to forget that I am not the runner I was this time last year.  I went for 6k but accidentally knocked my ipod off after 5 so logged my runs as 5k and then 1k.  I would have laughed at this this time last year, but I have to be patient and build my fitness up and shed some weight before I can get back to the runner that I was.  It was really great not to be running in the dark, but tomorrow I want to go to yoga again so will have to run in the dark so I can avoid my mistakes of yesterday.  A good day!  Lets hope I have many more...

Day 7- oh dear, what can the matter be?

Day 7 dawned and I took myself off to yoga. My plan was to run to the station and after yoga to get off the train early to have a semi-decent run.  90 mins of Bikram yoga is not the ideal warm up for a run!  I could not do it so I shuffled home, run, run slower, walk, walk faster, run, run slower, walk....you get the picture. So doing 90 mins of bikram is decent for the day but my run to the station was 1.25K and will have to be my total for today....wowzer, I am really putting in the miles...

Day 6

Day 6 dawned, the alarm went off and encouraged by yesterday's evening run I decided to head into work and try to make a break for home around 6 so I could have a run and then have a relaxed evening at home. Hmmmm, at 36 you would think I would have more personal insight than this. I did my best and got out of work at 9, headed home, out on my running gear and headed out. Another short one! Just over 4k. Now my shin hurts and I am hoping I don't have shin splints as my normal treatment is rest and that is not a janathon option. I am going to try making it to bikram yoga tomorrow morning for a good stretch and hopefully a gentle run afterwards. Now for some couch time before bed!

Janathon Day 5

Day 5:  I initally planned on going to work early, leaving at 5.30 to go boxing and then run home from there, I couldn't get it together so knew by the time I left home that there was no way I'd be able to leave at 5.30 and ended up getting home at 9.50pm.  Ordinarily, I would think, well it is too late to run now, I'll just do a bit more tomorrow (not likely!!) but as I am determined to run every day in Jan, off I trotted at 9.55 and had a lovely 6k run.  I never run at night, the latest run I did last year (while training for the London marathon) was 6.30pm.  It was very relaxing and I have broken my mental block about running at night.  The main downside is that it is not very exciting to run around the streets (safety first!) of London on a winter night, so I thought about all the great places I've run this year, first run of the year was in Hoi An Vietnam, I've run in Hanoi, Melbourne,  Sydney, Boston, Chicago,  LA,  Taipei, different counties of Ireland, along the Coventry Canal, along the river in Glasgow, around the streets of Edinburgh......and of course my lovely London.  I tried not to think about how much further I could comfortably run this time last year, or how much weight I've put on over the last few months...its Janathon and I'm getting my running mojo back. Roll on tomorrow morning when I'll roll out of bed and into my trainers.

Day 4

Day 4 went well, although once again I got up later than planned.  My run had to be cut down to 20 mins, although I did a superb 22 in the end!  The run felt fine, probably as I knew that it had to be very short.  I then took myself to the gym for personal training.  It was great to get back to the gym after 4 months of travelling the world. When I got home my laptop refused to let me log my miles or get onto the blogger.com site, so I had to do both today (Day 5).  My day 5 entry will come later, after I've done my run.  I hate evening running, but needs must!

Day 3

So today is Janathan, Day 3 and I got up an hour late for my morning run.  Not such a good start and my legs felt like lead, as I was a bit late I could only run 5K and it was a struggle in any case.  I was feeling so tired that I changed my planned route so that the last bit of the run was down hill! This involved running uphill first but I really wanted to end on a downhill!  After my run I rushed to shower and change for yoga and headed off to the bikram studio.  Disaster, they had advertised the wrong times so I had to turn around and come home as the next class for not for over an hour.  Maybe I'll catch a class later on today.  At least I had my run...

Day 2 Bikram Yoga update

Chris posted a question about Bikram yoga on my blog but I couldn't reply as it said that his blog was not open or something, so I'll post here.  This is the third time I've signed up for an introductory bikram deal.  The first time I really liked it but the studio was not particularly close to work or home so it wasn't that easy to keep going.  The second time, the studio was very close to where I was staying in Melbourne for a month, but the class times didn't suit very well so I only managed a few classes on the weekends when I was in town.  This time I am really hoping to get in quite a few classes at least for the first 30 days of my special into offer.  I really like it as it seems great for the skin as you sweat out all the toxins. I also am getting quite stiff from running and have lost a lot of my former flexibility. It is also good as you can improve each time you go as you get used to the poses.  If there is a studio close to you do their intro offer, it could be 10 days unlimited or 20 days or 30 days but very good value and you can get a sense of whether it is for you or not.

Good luck!

Day 2

So today is day 2 of Janathon.  I set off for my run at 6.55am this morning.  It was still dark and I had initally planned to run 5 miles, but was a bit late starting so planned on doing 4 miles.  My ipod seems to be happier speaking kms so I ended up running a bit more than planned but only a little bit. I had to cut the run short as I had planned to go to Bikram yoga with a friend at 9.  Bikram yoga is a good balance for running and I've had 2 false starts but have signed up for a month and am hoping to run and do yoga again tomorrow morning.  Running is still difficult with the extra weight I've put on but the more I run, the easier it will be!  Roll on tomorrow for more running and yoga.

Janathon- Day 1

So today is day one of Janathon and I dragged myself off for a run.  I set my nike + for 5 miles and off I went, hmmm, just ove 3 miles in I decided that I would just do 4 miles as I've been having a 'break' for the last few weeks.  I could feel every extra pound as I waddleran to the River Lee.  I enjoyed my run but can't help thinking about how I lost my fitness and wondering how long it will take me to get back into the swing of things.  It may have taken me longer to figure out how to log my run than the actual run but now I've figured it out it should get easier.  I'll try to go for 5 tomorrow and see how that works.