In Which January Is Over, It’s FINALLY Over!
Well THAT was a long month wasn’t it? I didn’t even think my calendar HAD a 47th of January but it definitely felt like it! Before I get to my favourite part if running and blogging (stats!), here’s how the last few days of the longest month went…
Monday January 29th 2024
I took my son to school and then made my way home (because that’s where I live). I told myself that I needed to get in to my running kit and back out of the door before I did anything else with my day. No coffee, no having a snack, and no watching Homes Under The Hammer (that could all wait).
Todays plan was to get miles done. There was no need to be keeping an eye on speed or pace or to get any hill reps done, all I needed was to get the miles clocked off to give me a fighting chance to reach my target for the month.
The route, as I’m sure you’ll guess if you’ve been following my month of running, was laps of the river side path near where I live. Not one. Not even two. But THREE full laps. There were plenty of other people on the path too (in both directions) so it seems resolutions are still being stuck to all over the place (next to the river anyway). It was a little bit of a struggle today (I should’ve had more for breakfast) but I got the miles done, got home, and rewarded myself with an hour of Homes Under The Hammer. Ideal Monday!
(8.01miles – 1:21:30 – 10.10/mi)
Tuesday January 30th 2024
Today was my first day back at work after my days off (6.30am – 6.30pm) and I slept RUBBISH the night before. Still, I took my running stuff with me and even though it was raining a bit I ran home after work. I’ve started taking my evening meal in to work (as well as lunch, obvs) which means I’m eating 90 minutes before I run home and it’s really helping with my energy levels. I used to eat when I got home and the run was usually a bit of a slog but doing it this way means I’m all fuelled up.
I ran home, ran a mile lap after that, and then ran a half mile lap after THAT to bring me up to 7.5miles for the day. And you know what? It felt kinda… easy? I mean I didn’t push myself and it’s a slight downhill route most of the way, but it 100% felt like an easier run than it has in the past.
(7.5miles – 1:17:01 – 10.16/mi)
Wednesday January 31st 2024
Same set up as yesterday, ate at the same time, did exactly the same route home, and you know what? It did NOT feel easy in the SLIGHTEST. Yesterday me lulled today me in to a false sense of security, the git. I’m sure it’s something to do with it being my third run in three days that’s over seven miles, or maybe it’s the whole month catching up on me, but it was a full on struggle.
However, the whole way I kept my mind focused on the task and ticked off the miles as they came, because these seven and half miles, on the last day of January, brought me up to a total monthly millage amount of… ONE HUNDRED MILES RUN!
(7.51miles – 1:17:40 – 10.20/mi)
Totals For This Month
Miles: 100.02 – Time: 16h 55m – Average Pace: 10.09/mile – Weight Loss: 19lbs/8.6kgs
That’s it, done, thanks for reading, bye. Noooo I’m joking! Come back!
You know what? I’m proud of myself. (Chuffed, as us Yorkshire folk say). I did Dry January alongside the running too (didn’t really have much choice, can’t afford alcohol in January) and stuck to my healthy eating pretty much all month (a few cheat meals here and there, as expected). I have a job where I’m getting a fair few steps in (running aside) and I got just over 150miles of walking done in January which, along with the running step count, means I hit just over half a million steps for the month.
My weight loss went better than expected, my target had been 15lbs but I dropped an extra 4lbs on top of that which gives me a nice head start on Februarys target. For sticking to my running and for not having any beer all month I treated myself in a very grown up way and bought myself a new coffee machine:
I always put a lot more updates on my Instagram about my running and food pics and general day to day life (although all the January ones are food and running) so if you feel you just need that little bit more of an insight into what I’m doing between blogging, you can find out here!
OR if you want to fully deep dive in to my running stats (how fast WAS that last mile though?) my Strava is round about here. Always nice to find new people to follow (on the app, not in real life. Although that’d make me run faster I think?)
My race season starts THIS SATURDAY with the Edinburgh Winter Warmer 10k. It’s two laps which both (obviously both, two laps) have a HUGE hill near the start. So that’ll be nice. Look for a race report probably Sunday for that!
Otherwise thanks for keeping up with all my nonsense for the month and let me know how yours has gone, no matter how good or bad.
See ya in a bit!
Marc Hemingway 