...Running and Stuff is an autobiography about James Adams who initially worries about running a marathon, to doing ultra marathons, to running across the USA. There's no chance of me doing that but it is an interesting example of what's possible. What he does suggest though is that through sharing his progress with others through blogging it has helped his motivation to do more and more, which has led to me giving it a try.
So my Sunday night run was the following, with Strava used for tracking progress. It should be noted that this is just the third time I've ran 10km, so while my time ain't great, it's better than the last 2 times. And it should be noted that I'm over 6ft tall and weigh 96kgs, so I'm not some wee whippet!
The run was slow and methodical, with a few bits of walking but not as many as I expected- which is good. One highlight of the run was seeing a couple of deer heading off into the woods. It's strange though that about a year ago I was mountain biking the same route and thought it was a good workout. I even saw someone out running at the later stages and I was impressed they'd made it that far, now I'm even running it!
My current running goal is to get my time down to 1h, 7mins less than my current time. While this doesn't sound a lot but it's a fair increase in my pace so I don't expect to drop that time quickly.
It was another book I've recently read that's got me motivated again. Ranulph Fiennes has done lots in his time and it's amasing what he's done in his time. The book, Mad, Bad and Dangerous to Know
,
covers a few highlights in his life and worth a read, but his simple fitness mantra is something I'm aiming for. Basically he suggests that to stay fit, even at his age, you need to run 2 hours three times a week. So my first goal was running for one hour and then increasing it from there. At the moment I'm alternating between cycling and running so it'll be a while before I get to running 2 hours, never mind doing it three times a week! But having been running on Sunday, mountain biking on Tuesday and cycling to/from work today at least I'm more active.
But I am writing this blog post with a beer in hand so somethings don't change that much...
