Day 31 – Bye bye Janathon, Hello Fabruary!

Oh dear.. a still poorly boy means, for a second day, I didn’t get any time to myself. So my last January workout was another hour on the Wii Just Dance. I’m getting rather good at I’m So Excited by The Pointer Sisters, if I do say so myself. I think this still counts. Had it not been for Janathon, I would have spent the whole evening on the sofa lifting nothing but the TV remote.

It may have petered out a little, but this has been by far the fittest month of my life. At Christmas I could jog about 6 km on the treadmill, and now 10km in the park feels fairly comfortable and something I could manage twice a week. I feel ten times better than I did at New Year. I seemed to stumble through November and December in a haze of coughs and colds being passed around the family repeatedly (not to mention the chicken pox). Is it just coincidence that  January has been totally snuffle and cough free for me? Maybe it’s because I haven’t stood still for long enough for any germs to land on me. My hip niggle has totally disappeared since I took my running outside (touching wood). I’m now scared to stop for fear of losing this level of fitness.

Friends say they come up with their most creative ideas while they’re running, or at least make plans for the day ahead. But this month I’ve learnt that, for me, the joy of jogging is that I think about nothing. I clear my mind, focus on the beat of the music or my footsteps. Concentrating on breathing becomes enough to make me feel uplifted. To a point where it becomes difficult to slow down! I don’t think I’ve experienced any ‘runners high’ – I think that only comes with longer distances – but I do feel zoned out and can see how this becomes addictive.

My February fitness regime is as yet untitled (I’m thinking FITruary, FebRUNary, Feel FABruary?) and  it won’t involve blogging every day. My goal is to be able to call 10km an ‘easy run’ and to ‘nip’ the 12km round Richmond park on sunny summer mornings before anyone else in the house realises I’m gone. I’d like to complete a 10km race in less than 57 minutes. And I’d like to take my bumbag on a little tour of London.

I’ve loved reading the other blogs about runners who are faster, fitter, funnier, more adventurous, better travelled and have more stamina than I’ll ever have (all of them, then!) So a big thank you to the organisers. I googled Janathon accidentally when I couldn’t remember the name of Dryathlon, and this is where it took me!

Most importantly for me, I’ve learnt there is never really an excuse not to squeeze a bit more movement into your day. And the more time you make for it, the more it will reward you. I haven’t weighed myself in January, because I didn’t want this to be about being slimmer, just about feeling better. And I do.

Pass the wine, Dryathlon is nearly over. Cheers!

Total January distance: 129km run, 12km cycled, 30km (and more!) walked, 1km rowed.