Exactly a year ago my frustration at being stuck at home and barely moving led me to head off on my first C25k run. I was a bit overconfident at first and ran through some of the walk sections, until a sore calf stopped me running in week 3 and taught me that I needed to adapt my running to what my legs could do, not my lungs. Fortunately no major harm was done and I was quickly back running again.
I discovered new paths through fields of wildflowers or lovely woods, spending evenings poring over the OS map looking for green places or heading off to explore tempting turnoffs. Some of the new paths I wanted to take were a bit too long for me, but cycling to the start expanded my range. Gradually I made it through the C25k milestone runs, finally making it to that magic 30, just squeezing in 5k by the skin of my teeth in W9R3.
A few weeks of consolidation and then onto the magic plan, really enjoying how building up distance expanded where I could run from my front doorstep. Though , the darkening evenings started to make me think about lit routes and high viz gear. To keep me going over the winter, I started a new challenge in the virtual LeJog.
About this time I took another big jump and joined my local running club - slightly nervous at the start but was made to feel very welcome and was surprised by how much faster I became when running in a group (my inner competitive streak showing!). All of which helped me towards my first 10k and, a few weeks later, my first virtual race, the vitality 10k. I pushed hard and was rewarded by no less than 6 PRs on strava. As I commented at the time "I imagine my rate of improvement is going to slow down and PRs will be harder to get, but it's pretty addictive just now. I think I'm going to be doing that grinning all day thing again!"
Encouraged by people on HU, I decided the next challenge had to be a half, so signed up with the HU Spring Half Marathon group and the garmin HM training plan. It was a bit sad to have to leave my favourite trails so that I could run lit routes in the evening, particularly when lockdown stopped club runs again. But the occasional daytime run became even more of a treat. One particularly memorable moment was a run I just didn't want to stop - I had headed out for 12k but, having slowed my pace, I found I had much more energy and ended up keeping going and doing my first 10 miler.
January was a tough month - home schooling and work left no time for anything, let alone daytime runs, so I ended up going out in the dark and wet and cold. It was tough but I knew my mood would suffer if I didn't get out, and there was a degree of pride in not letting the weather beat me. My running club's 2021 strava challenge, helped by giving me new reasons to get out for a run.
The increasing distance of the HM plan was proving tough and by February I was struggling a bit with hamstrings and sore knees. I took a bit of time out to stop niggles becoming something worse, and then limited my weekly mileage carefully. Schools going back finally gave me the time to nip out in my lunch break for a run in daylight, rediscovering my favourite trails and, thanks to the club strava challenge, some new ones too.
My training plan had gone out the window in February but I couldn't resist the HU virtual half marathon - lovely experience to set off on my first half with HU colleagues' words of encouragement in my ears ("Run like someone just called you a jogger!"). It felt a very long way, but it was a huge thrill to finish my first half marathon. Club runs opening up again was a great pleasure, particularly the annual bluebell run.
April saw the end of one challenge as I reached John O'Groats, while presenting an interesting new challenge as the club strava challenge focussed on elevation. I spent a lot of time running slowly up hills and walking down them to get in those extra vertical metres without wearing out my knees! A delight to be out and about, high on the hills looking out to sea and inland, with kites and buzzards in the sky.
To prove March's half wasn't a fluke (and get some more points for the strava challenge I was increasingly obsessed by!), I managed another half in May, before joining my running club's faster 5k plan. I'm halfway through that at the moment, still no idea if I'll achieve my ambitious time goal (knocking over 3 minutes off my previous PB), but enjoying having good company as we see how far we can push ourselves. It feels satisfyingly symmetrical to end the year still challenging myself, working towards 5k again, if from a much stronger base.
So much to be grateful for - I'm fitter, have a reliable stress valve, know my local area so much better and am making new friends virtual and IRL through running. Because even in lockdown we can run together, and it's so much more fun that way! Thanks to all my running buddies, virtual and IRL, for the encouragement on the journey. May the rest of the year bring us races real and virtual, successes private and public, and more well-run miles under our feet.
