Hello Everyone...
Good to see you !
Welcome to the Corner. I have to say, that today the temperatures have been and are very low and as a result, the corner is warm and snug, with hot drinks and some wonderful warm healthy snacks!
This is an odd time of the year isn't it? Well certainly for me, it always feels so... and when I look back on my January run reports from the last eight years, the same feeling seems to be there..
This time of the year can, for all manner of reasons, be a tricky time to run. Certainly here in the UK, the weather may play a huge part in that, But illness, injury or just new things happening in our lives can cause us to feel a bit uncertain.
So, I am going to put here, if you will forgive me, a few snippets from my past reports on running in January ! I am an Admin, here on the forum, BUT, above and beyond, I am a RUNNER... and I have felt, and feel the things that many, many of you feel. I understand what is going on !
I would love you to see that for you , just as it was and is for so many runners on here, that your running is going to evolve... just follow the plan, slow and steady, and you will be amazed where it will take you.
Having managed to get back to Re-Graduation, I am building up slowly. So my runs now, for a week or so, are sort of consolidation runs. But wind and weather upended me and I have not been able to run for two weeks! Imagine !
Yesterday I ran. Slow and steady and in bitterly cold weather, but, dry! Unfortunate there were, unknown when I went out, to me., patches of black ice. I had to slow right down and walk those bits! Getting home for breakfast was a real treat!
The day was overcast and very grey... exactly like it was in 2017...I travelled back through time, to 2017...
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“...Sunday and a slow and gentle run over familiar fields and tracks, just me, in the emptiness and silence of the morning. Thoughts whirling around my head, as they always do at this, for me, strange time of the year. … I usually feel a little bit flat after Christmas and New Year, but the past events of the last few months have added a spring to my step and a smile to my lips. Time spent with our newest family member bring sunshine to the dullest day.
I ran, on the lanes this morning… the fields were too muddy and the tracks too slippery. The wet leaves under the huge trees by Rookery wood made the going tricky… I am overly wary at the moment of falling, after the rib incident, and slowed down almost to walking pace. The light rain, made looking around, difficult… and I shortened my run, to get back to the welcome warmth of home. “
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As the snippet shows, then as now, I listen to my body and take note if what it says..”
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“ I had set out early; Folk have been busy already; winter pansies, in neat rows and glistening red berries on the shrubs in gardens, dug over before the frost of the last two days. A few For Sale signs have gone up, un-curtained windows stare blankly as I run past, empty rooms and silence; a new dream waiting for someone to wake it and bring it to life. I ran down the hill, and into the village, there are no trains on Sunday.
How many Sunday runs have I had like this? With no-one around, just me and a sleeping world, it is quite surreal. Up the hill and past the schools, gates locked, and play yards deserted. Up the hill at an easy pace; concentrating on landing lightly and breathing steadily. Lifting my feet in a rounded motion whilst keeping hands and face relaxed. Trying to do all the things that Laura teaches us, when we take those first faltering steps. Along the pathway past the Primary School, yellow galleon still sailing across the yard; manned by countless small sailors in the week, but at anchor, in the corner harbour at the weekends. The picnic tables beneath the trees are empty and damp, twig shelters lie half constructed in the rough ground play area, Ray Mears, watch out!
Running still steadily, nearly an hour now, and time to head home for breakfast. There was a time I always walked up the hill, but I can run up it now! The pleasure I get from this simple fact makes me smile.”
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I have included these snippets, quite simply, to try to help our new runners to see just what is possible.
You may not realise it now, as you steadily run your way through the plan, to the graduation podium, but , your running , will, if you let it take you to the most wonderful places.
There will be dark days... where you feel overwhelmed but, know that we are here for support and friendship. You may run on your own, but you will never run alone.
It truly is, all out there waiting…wet days, dry days, cold or warm, dull or bright… we run, and the sunshine is inside us…and it is simply amazing.
Now, it is your turn, I and we need to know... how are you feeling? How are the runs going? Is this time of the year getting to you... has Christmas tired you out, or are you ready for the runs to come.
How do you make your own sunshine when you run... ??? Please tell us
Just pop in and maybe sit a while... rest up and share you runs and your thoughts.
Looking forward to seeing you....
Oldfloss x
PS
Please do read also, other posts from your forum friends... those who are tad further on in the plan... you will find encouragement and a feeling of what may be possible as you move on .xxx
