A little round-up

[nowster]

It's been a while since I last posted. Let's see what I've been up to in the last couple of weeks…

Sat 21 Dec: A wet parkrun (Chadderton).

Sun 22 Dec: 2 miles in biting wind.

Mon 23 Dec: 15km. Drizzle and rain. Got the Garmin badge.

Tue 24 Dec: Christmas Eve. 2 miles, followed by very late drive to Wales, not getting to bed until 4am.

Wed 25 Dec: Christmas Day. Lie-in, then the Xmas bustle. A nail came off my right little toe when I was putting socks on. I looked. There was a fresh, healthy, clean nail underneath.

Thu 26 Dec: Boxing Day. 2 miles. Misty with lots of puddles.

Fri 27 Dec: No run as it was chucking it down and foggy. Walked sister's dog at sunset. Had to shower the dog after as he'd found all the muddy puddles.

Sat 28 Dec: 5km run. Mild enough (over 10°C) for shorts.

Sun 29 Dec: Rest day. Packing to get back to Manchester, then driving back in the evening.

Mon 30 Dec: Busy day. Walked to GP for blood test. Then went to next town to visit bank about Dad's finances (power of attorney, etc.). Arrived about twenty minutes early so walked around the town, exploring, to kill time.

Tue 31 Dec: New Year's Eve. Horrible weather. Rain deluge. Didn't get out as I'd left it too late in the day.

Wed 1 Jan: New Year's Day. Parkrun tourism: Hyde (East Manchester), one of the few that wasn't flooded.

Thu 2 Jan: 10km on a bright, cold day.

Fri 3 Jan: 2 miles. Felt strong and good about my improving fitness when I was doing it.

After doing no running through the latter part of June, all of July and most of August, I had a lot of fitness I needed to build back. The muscles were still there but the stamina wasn't. Also I'd put on a few kilos over the course of the year.

Rather than go mad I've been gradually building up the length of my runs, not caring about the pace, alongside some not too hard intervals.

I'm doing 10km in about 66-70 minutes, much slower than I was at my peak, but I finish the run feeling like I've got plenty of energy left.

And it's working. I can feel myself getting stronger, finishing runs without feeling drained. I'm slowly shedding the extra weight too.

I'm currently three days into Run Every Day (RED) January. As long as we don't have any severe weather events or family crises, I have high hopes of completing it, but I will not kick myself if I can't.

[Cmoi Graduate10]

Happy for you nowster , you've had a rough time in 2024. Hope 2025 is kinder.

[Jools2020 Graduate10]

You’ve not had an easy year and rebuilding fitness can be frustrating but you’ve gone about it in the right way, by not focusing too much on trying to get back too quickly to where you were. I’ve been following your progress on Strava and you’re doing really well.

2024 for me was recovering fitness with the help of a coach - starting a new way of training - enjoying that fitness for a while and then being unwell a few times! Christmas and new year have been a disaster from a running point of view. My sister-in-law was taken seriously ill and is on life support in intensive care, so running is secondary to helping my brother cope as we all rally round him. I’m not bothered about fitness so much at the moment but just get out and run for a bit when I can. My mileage is way down but I’ll try to keep it ticking over and I’ll step up the training again when I’m able.

[nowster Graduate10 in reply to Jools2020]

That's similar to me last year when Dad was taken into hospital in an ambulance in early December (2023), and we had to drop everything and work out how to care for Mum. He was eventually booted out of hospital in mid January in a terrible state, malnourished and barely able to walk.

You do what you can in that situation, fitting the running in when you have the breathing space.

[Jools2020 Graduate10 in reply to nowster]

I remember. Such a difficult time for you. My sister in law is in hospital in London which makes visiting difficult.

Yes it’s good advice. I did manage an hour’s run the other day - and a 30 minute run yesterday - but I don’t beat myself up if I can’t do it! My brother needs looking after.

[Week7 Graduate10]

Good to see you're well on your way back running wise. 🤞 the weather doesn't cause too many issues for RED. Hope 2025 is easier for you, your family and your running.

[Wavy-chick28 Graduate10]

where would we be without a run whatever the distance or time when dealing with family crisis it’s always a blessing to just get out and clear the head, heard everyone mention RED January will have to take a look.

[nowster Graduate10 in reply to Wavy-chick28]

Although it's called Run Every Day, the current interpretation is "Do Some Exercise for at least 10 minutes Every Day". I'm still going to try to run, though.