Kickstarting 2017
2017 has come with a bang! All the good intentions go flying out the window as a whirlwind of chaos crept in! I am a firm believer of making the most out of every moment, but sometimes I do go a little over the top! Life only has so many seconds, minutes and hours and if I keep over filling them I am going to end up not enjoying anything. After one week into 2017 I have realised that sleep and rest is also a key component to being able to make the most of things. Needless to say the start of 2017 has been very eventful already - some good and some bad - but lots to think about.
2017 will also see some changes and I have been thinking about how I can share my thoughts and adventures in a slightly different way. Previously I have blogged per subject, but I have been considering whether I might do a weekly update including thoughts, quandaries and adventures.
Do I set a mileage goal for the year?
This question was raised a lot this week. In 2016 a lot of fellow runners set targets such as running 1000 miles in a year! I never had a 2016 target, but still, even with an injury, managed to clock up over 800 miles. I considered whether in 2017 I should set myself a goal! To run 1000 miles in a year I roughly need to be clocking up 20 miles a week. This is not unattainable, but then I considered why I was running. Yes to succeed at a goal would be great, but I run for fun, I run to de-stress, I run to enjoy the countryside and I run to catch up with friends. By setting a goal I felt I was putting unnecessary pressure on myself to run even when time was limited, if I wasn’t feeling 100% fit or if I was on holiday. It is important to have goals, but it is also important to put them into perspective. So instead of setting a mileage goal in 2017 I will be concentrating on enjoying my running and if I happen to run over a 1000 miles so be it!
Running my way into 2017
Despite saying all of the above I do seem to have run a fair few miles in the first week of 2017! In my previous post I talked about my first run of the year at Nayland. This had been organised by the Essex Casuals as a self navigational nine mile trail run. This was a tough first run of the year and including a lot of mud, hills and getting lost.
The Gipping adventure also returned this week and saw a number of lifers join together again to take on the challenge. I have to admit though getting up at 6.30am on a Saturday is far too early. I do sometimes question why I do these things as I certainly do not remember the last time I had a lie in! The early start was a necessary evil though as the train left for Stowmarket at 7.44am. Our starting destination is only around 10-15 minutes away by train, but it would take several hours for us to complete the return journey of 16.5 miles off road.
My expectations for this run were all wrong! Last year we had had a huge amount of rain and our Gipping adventure saw us running through mud and water up to our knees. This year I thought that we would have a much easier run. The weather had been good and in our favour, but how wrong I was! Mud everywhere! In particular the section between Stowmarket and Needham Market was very bad. We were slipping and sliding all over the place! Once out there it is all just about being careful. I knew I needed to take it steady on my ankle and focused on sticking to a steady pace, strongly putting my feet into the mud and keeping to the middle of the path. It was certainly a work out though - keeping balance and keeping some momentum to move forward was twice as hard in the mud as it would have been normally.
We all kept each other in good spirits though as we meandered our way along the river banks. We all took it in turns at the back and the front making sure that everyone in attendance was ok and knew the route. From my previous experiences on the route I felt todays run went better than normal despite my overall time being slower. I felt I paced myself better for the length of the run and I still had something left to give at the end as I whizzed from the back of the pack up to join the front leaders. All in all today’s run had been hard, but a really good training tool for me. It was the longest run I had managed since my accident and provided me with some comfort that I could cover the distance. This will help with my nerves for next weekends race! We will be taking on Dover 14 miles - which is all off road, very muddy and from what I have just viewed of a video reasonably hilly.
Getting a balance
Previously when I got stronger at running I didn’t just run! I used to do a lot of classes and this helped to build up my strength and stamina. There was a blip where all I did was run. Although this was still good for my health it had meant I was lacking something to get me faster, stronger and able to deal with endurance distances.
The end of December 2016 saw me join our local David Lloyd gym. It is as with all of them a little pricey, but it is very close to my house and the access to both the pool and classes suits the flexibility I needed. Christmas did get in the way of some gym activity and with the rest of the population I was determined to make use of my membership and get back on it 2017!
I have to admit I am simply so pleased with the smallest thing! The ability to book online, the ability to cancel online, the flexibility in classes and which nights I can attend and being able to swim in utter peace without feeling confined by other swimmers. I really do find the whole experience very stress free and relaxing and it has made the desire to go and exercise a lot more inviting.
So for the foreseeable I will be trying my very little best to continue to swim, attend combat and fit a pilates session in each week on top of my usual runs. Lets hope by me sharing this it might help me stick to it and the balance of activities will help make me stronger, fitter and healthier during 2017.
Fun Games and New Toys
The first full week back at work after Christmas and New Year is always tough and despite having the above adventures and classes to release some stress it is still important to spend time with friends and family.
We spent a fun night at the Railway public house in Westerfield with our friends ‘The Trotts’. It is one of my favourite pubs and they do yummy food! I avoided my normal go to chicken salad however as it is very garlic packed and I didn’t think everyone would appreciate me sweating garlic the following day. I opted for the beef and ale pie and mash! A good hearty winter meal.
The adventure to the pub wasn’t just about food and a catch up, but it was also about showing off my new pride and joy! Tonight was the night I picked up my new Fiat 500 and I am totally in love. I opted for black as I thought it was sophisticated in the hope that it might bring some class into my life! It is a dream to drive and I am buzzing to go everywhere in it! Few cheeky pictures are below…
Another night saw a different type of evening, but one none-the-less enjoyable. We went to see some friends who lived in Ipswich and we had a Pizza and Puzzle night! They had recently purchased the hardest puzzle I have ever been part off. It was four coffee mugs and hundreds of coffee beans. We were at work on it for several hours and they continued into the wee hours of the morning. Think we will need several additional evenings to see it through to completion. I honestly cannot remember the last time I had tried to do a puzzle. It might have been when I was very little with my Nanny Barrow. We often used to sit with Dad and do a puzzle when we popped round to visit. It certainly is a very relaxing, but mind stimulating activity which got everyone working together as a team. If I could have filmed it I think it would have been hilarious. We had piles of jigsaw pieces around us everywhere depending on the shade of the coffee bean! I am looking forward to them sending me a photo of the finished article.
A trip to the K-Bar on St Nicholas Street was also in order after my run on Saturday with my running buddies. It was much needed refreshment and an opportunity to warm up. I am still not sure if our general stench from our run put off any additional customers, but we certainly got some strange looks from the diners already in there. The K-Bar does the best burgers and food - would strongly recommend everyone to visit at some point in the future. You do need to be prepared though - the burgers are huge! We opted for a quick pint and a bucket of chips however while we debriefed todays events and planning what else we could fit in to the forthcoming weeks. This is when I always need to remember that I can’t do everything and I still need to fit work, family, friends and chores into my world and it is not all just about my hobby. The words ‘getting a balance’ come to mind again and I think after writing this weeks blog up I know that this will be my new years resolution.
Lets hope that week two of 2017 is just as exciting, fun filled and challenging while also being encompassed by some chilling, relaxing and recovery time.