Week 1...again

So, er, that all went a bit wrong. I started OK, then I went on holiday for a week. I took my running stuff, but there was a slight problem. Two problems to be precise, both of them unchained dogs, both of them between our villa and the end of the track that led to the road. So no running that week.

And when I got back, the building work on our house that should have been finished wasn't, so no washing machine. Strictly speaking, of course, that makes no difference to being able to run - but do you fancy having a weeks' worth of stinking running gear in a pile in your house? Quite.

So as I'd only got a week in, I've decided to cut my losses and start again this week (or basically, August 1 for argument's sake) now I can finally wash my gear and also not get bitten. I've banked 10 miles so am back underway, albeit after an unexpected false start!

Swan violence

WEEK 2: DISTANCE SO FAR: 24 km

Bastard.

Well this week should be fun, as long as your definition of fun is 'bloody horrible'. I managed 2 stamina-free 5-mile jaunts last week (not bad in the absurd heat), but this week I need to do 3. The way it works is I will need to do 1 week of 2x5 miles and 1 week of 3x5 miles and then repeat, with the occasional weekend 'top up' to bring me up to the monthly target so I hit 1000km in just under a year's time.

That said, I did my first 5 miles of the week this morning, and things have much improved. Last week I couldn't manage much more than a mile and a bit before needed a breather for a minute. Today, I only stopped 3 times at a quarter of the way, halfway and three-quarters of the way through. My speed wasn't bad either. I also wasn't attacked by any swans. Which means so far I have only been attacked by swans on 33% of my runs.

I'm not sure I recommend going out quite as early as I did though if you can avoid it (I was out by just before 7am). I've drunk so much tea today to deal with the dehydration I feel like I've inhaled a space hopper.

Burp!

Seconds out: round two

WEEK 1: TARGET 16 km. DISTANCE SO FAR: 0 km

Understatement of the year...

Oh, hello! So here's the deal. Seven years ago, I did the whole "1000 km in a year thing" that you can read about in all my old posts, should you be monumentally bored or something. Suffice to say I did it somehow, and I've kept up running since. But (because there's always a but), a few things have occurred 'twixt now and back then.

For starters, I'm in my early 40s whereas last time I was in my mid 30s, and thus I am now officially decrepit (I even get classed as a 'senior' when I enter races, FFS). I've had my right achilles tendon basically go "Nah!", turn into soup and give up a couple of years ago, leading to 6-odd months of physio just to get back to a level where walking doesn't hurt. I get piriformis syndrome - a literal pain in the arse - on and off down my left side. And the knackered icing on top of the cake of increasing infirmity is that just under 2 months ago I fell and broke my arm. It's better now, but I couldn't run at all for the whole time I was in plaster.

All the above mean I've lost my fitness and stamina, my metabolism has slowed down, I've put on weight and I recover more slowly. Oh, and it's of course the height of summer and I get hayfever, so what POSSIBLE time could be better to start a second attempt at a 1000k-a-thon (as no one has ever referred to it as)?

The answer of course is none at all. I need something to motivate me to drag my arse and all the other broken bits back to the point where I can not go "Hnnnnng!" when getting out of a chair, and it needs to be long term, achievable but not so demanding that I can't fit it around daily life.

So, off we go again. See you in 984 km! Or next week, whichever happens first.