Firstly wishing you all a happy and prosperous 2017 – and I really hope you all had a good Christmas!
Against all the odds, it has been a pretty good Christmas and New Year holiday period running-wise! 20 miles in the 7 final days of 2016 which included:
- A nice 5 miler with Mrs F on boxing day.
- A couple of smaller 3Mi filler runs.
- A 9 miler yesterday.
I’m fully on track with both the half-marathon training plan and, importantly, the full marathon plan which is good. N.B. you’ll notice that I have moved into thinking in miles – an important change in thinking / estimating / planning when training for the 26.2 mile race. It’s still taking a while to get over the fact that I am not running 5K runs or indeed 14K runs any more – but it’s important in terms of the ultimate goal and helps to keep things in perspective.
So, plans for January:
- Get the holistic balance spot-on: food, carb levels, protein intake, fluids, sleep etc all contribute hugely to the balance. Basically a bit less alcohol and dead animals accompanied by cheese and carbs won’t go amiss.
- This will lead to ongoing weight loss and an easier run (one hopes…).
- More of the same in terms of running, keeping the plan going, upping the distances over the coming weeks – if you’re interested, you can monitor my progress on Strava here: https://www.strava.com/athletes/17886589.
- Oh and of course the usual family and business madness, plans and goals – we’ll fit those in somewhere during what will prove to be a super busy year methinks 🙂
Final thought: I get asked a lot if I’m enjoying this journey and the answer is, largely, a big yes. We’ve all been to Disneyland or Legoland or Thorpe Park; I don’t recall seeing people at those places with smiles of perpetual ecstasy on their faces despite having spent potentially thousands of pounds and having travelled hundreds or even thousands of miles to get there. Indeed, I recall at one point thinking, whilst walking around Disneyworld in Florida, how hot, miserable, flustered and generally downhearted people looked as they queued hours for a ride that would last minutes. However as humans we filter this all out and we remember the golden moments – and now I remember that trip as nothing but joyous.
Running is a bit like this. I drag my carcass out of bed when it’s -3 degrees, dark and frosty. I pull on my running clothes, have a protein shake and get in my car to drive somewhere that actually allows me to run more than a mile without having to climb stupid gradients. I get my iPhone cranked up, wait for the GPS to kick in on my Garmin watch, start plodding along the footpath – and it’s normally at this point I think “this is pretty much the armpit of life…”.
However, within 20 minutes, I am warmed up, I have found my pace, it’s getting light, the music (carefully selected) is flowing nicely. I’m drifting in and out of deep thought, planning the day, enjoying the music, enjoying the cold air on my face as the dawn starts to creep over the horizon, I’m smelling the fields and the air, I’m almost at one with nature. It’s at these times I have had moments of epiphany – where the road almost floats beneath my feet and I can forget where I am, where the miles just melt away. Within another 20 minutes, I may have finished and I’m basking in the warmth of the endorphins and the feeling of accomplishment at another few miles under my feet towards the ultimate goal; and at this point I’m happy that my watch is synching and my run is being shared on Strava for all to see.
This is why I can safely say, yes, I am enjoying the journey and can’t see a time when I won’t be doing this.
Again, peace and love to all, wishing you a great 2017, thanks for following me and don’t forget to sponsor me at some point in the next few months – this is what it’s all about of course 🙂