Jogging your memory
I did promise that I wouldn't post too many LJ updates about the development of my running skills in preparation for the 10k race in March - and to be fair, I think I've made good on that promise so far. One blog entry in the autumn last year was about all I managed. So then, I think I've finally earned another.
Things are progressing well, and I'm now at the point where I can run 7km in 31 minutes, which isn't going to get Norris McWhirter excited, but isn't a terrible score for a man in his late thirties. It's been a long, hard slog, and not necessarily a completely enjoyable one, but I now feel as if I'm back up to the level of fitness I had in my mid-twenties, which is a massive and slightly unexpected gift. Way back then, I could clearly remember that some local friends of mine used to regularly mock me because I was often spotted running for buses and trains in the mornings - and indeed, I was quite capable of running the full half a mile to the train station if pushed for time (and I usually was). This meant that despite my usual morning disorganisation which saw me struggling to get out of the front door, I at least always got to my desk at work at the agreed time.
When I started trying to run again in August, the most I could manage was about forty seconds before getting out of breath, which was truly pathetic and a sign of how far my fitness had fallen. It's a cliche, but the state of your body does have an impact on your mental health, your energy levels and how you view the world. An unfit person is more likely to be lacking in optimism and motivation than somebody who regularly exercises. From that perspective, it is genuinely good to feel a bit younger and livelier again, although I have noticed that a certain laidback, carefree attitude I'd developed in my thirties seems to have waned slightly. Perhaps I wasn't being carefree at all, just lazy in my attitude towards other people's behaviour.
For the last few mornings I've been noticing a few more very out-of-puff people braving the frost whilst on my route, and can only assume they're New Years Resolution victims. If anyone's thinking of starting jogging again right now - and of course you'd ask my advice first, wouldn't you, this is after all the anonymous blogging account of Sebastian Coe* - there's probably something to be said for leaving it for another month-and-a-half or so yet. The last time I resolved to start running again at the beginning of January, I managed about a week-and-a-half before giving up. The height of either summer or winter is a bad time to start trying to get into an outdoor exercise routine, and I'm not finding the weather good for my motivation either despite the fact I've been doing this awhile. I've even started wearing boxer shorts underneath my jogging pants (more information than you need, I realise, but the phrase "freezing my bollocks off" clearly did come from somebody's personal experience).
(* a joke. And yes, I do have to specify this, because the last time I jokingly pretended to be somebody famous online as a flippant aside, I was taken seriously by a couple of hopeful people).
Things are progressing well, and I'm now at the point where I can run 7km in 31 minutes, which isn't going to get Norris McWhirter excited, but isn't a terrible score for a man in his late thirties. It's been a long, hard slog, and not necessarily a completely enjoyable one, but I now feel as if I'm back up to the level of fitness I had in my mid-twenties, which is a massive and slightly unexpected gift. Way back then, I could clearly remember that some local friends of mine used to regularly mock me because I was often spotted running for buses and trains in the mornings - and indeed, I was quite capable of running the full half a mile to the train station if pushed for time (and I usually was). This meant that despite my usual morning disorganisation which saw me struggling to get out of the front door, I at least always got to my desk at work at the agreed time.
When I started trying to run again in August, the most I could manage was about forty seconds before getting out of breath, which was truly pathetic and a sign of how far my fitness had fallen. It's a cliche, but the state of your body does have an impact on your mental health, your energy levels and how you view the world. An unfit person is more likely to be lacking in optimism and motivation than somebody who regularly exercises. From that perspective, it is genuinely good to feel a bit younger and livelier again, although I have noticed that a certain laidback, carefree attitude I'd developed in my thirties seems to have waned slightly. Perhaps I wasn't being carefree at all, just lazy in my attitude towards other people's behaviour.
For the last few mornings I've been noticing a few more very out-of-puff people braving the frost whilst on my route, and can only assume they're New Years Resolution victims. If anyone's thinking of starting jogging again right now - and of course you'd ask my advice first, wouldn't you, this is after all the anonymous blogging account of Sebastian Coe* - there's probably something to be said for leaving it for another month-and-a-half or so yet. The last time I resolved to start running again at the beginning of January, I managed about a week-and-a-half before giving up. The height of either summer or winter is a bad time to start trying to get into an outdoor exercise routine, and I'm not finding the weather good for my motivation either despite the fact I've been doing this awhile. I've even started wearing boxer shorts underneath my jogging pants (more information than you need, I realise, but the phrase "freezing my bollocks off" clearly did come from somebody's personal experience).
(* a joke. And yes, I do have to specify this, because the last time I jokingly pretended to be somebody famous online as a flippant aside, I was taken seriously by a couple of hopeful people).