New year, new excuses?

[Seafront Plodder]

I had not run a yard since completing the New York Marathon in early November. I wanted to keep the running going, I really did, but a nagging back-of-the-knee injury was followed by a cold was followed by compulsory Christmas excesses. Here I am, a month off the first ½ marathon of the year, and no training has been done!

I was fairly confident that the miles were still in the legs so the success or otherwise of this morning’s run was always going to be down to how easy the breathing was going to be. It wasn't.

Even by my plodding standards the 3 miles I covered was slow, my GPS jobbie probably thought it had been attached to a tortoise. But I did finish, and boy was it hard. Hard as fu...

nnily enough I found the last 1/3 of a mile easier than the first. I'm still working that one out.

It wasn’t pretty, and it certainly wasn’t quick, but at least I now feel the 2005 campaign has started, with the first run safely under the (recently expanded) belt.

The other ‘injury’ I have as a legacy of New York is a big toe nail that I am shortly to lose. It’s too brittle to trim and not ready to fall off. I thought you’d all like to know that; so much so that I have a new avatar!

It’s good to be back out there though.

[Sweder]

I'm a believer in the addage that no matter what distance you run, the first 20 minutes/ half an hour are rotten (as mentioned in the Looniness of the Long Distance Runner). This would seem to relate to your plod this morning - you had only just 'gotten into' your running when you stopped. That, and the countless hours you've spent in smokey bars over the last couple of weeks . . .

[Fiona]

I agree - the first mile is always my worst. I hate it. Legs feel like lead and all the negative thoughts about why I'm out there doing this go through my head. Thank goodness that all passes.

Don't really like looking at your photo SP - sorry! I hope you aren't going to replace it with another when the nail finally falls off. I must admit I've lost about 4 nails in the past year. Not a nice side-affect of running is it?

[Sweder]

I agree, the nail is pretty fearsome. However, knowing that SP also suffers from chaffing I find the publication of this particular running wound infinitely preferable.

[Mid Life Crisis Marathon Man]

You might have at least painted a smiley face on that nail SP...

[Seafront Plodder]

I don't have the luxury of gently and serenely increasing my mileage by 10% per week, so last night I went out to go all out, as it were.

The two hacking 3-milers I did earlier this week are now, hopefully, history. So remembering to start slowly, I set off into the strong wind, promising myself that the return leg would be with it and I would enjoy it!

I upped the pace to a fast jog for the last 1/2 mile to stop myself from going on, and finished with 4.48 miles.

A big improvement in terms of distance and lung capacity, which sets me up nicely to once again throw the rulebook out of the window and increase the run by somewhere exceeding 10% this weekend. More later....