Running is a metaphor

I love to run. It's official. As I've mentioned before, it's all about the adventure and the challenge for me; taking the path less taken and going out when no other bugger would.

I went out this morning on an interval session which went on just long enough to let the mind wander and the time fly by. As I entered the time-bending state of mind something occurred to me.

Running is a metaphor for life.

Sometimes you are ahead and sometimes you are behind.

You can make your journey as easy or as hard as you like, but if you always travel the same route, you will always end up where you were.

The enjoyment is in the journey, not the end. Treat every step as an achievement and an adventure.

It is far too easy to berate yourself and the hardest part is sometimes saying, "I did well".

The trick seems to be having long term goals and looking at the bigger picture instead of getting caught in the moment.

And it's sometimes gritting your teeth, getting your head down, working your arse off and thinking "fuck it". I may not be the best or the fastest but I'm giving it my all and doing a lot more than most.

Training continues for upcoming runs, I'm looking for more and hoping to complete four this year. I've entered the VLM ballot and fingers crossed I'll get a place.

Loving seeing so many runners on the road and that more people from work are getting into it.

So Terminator could be real?

This week I put my life back in the hands of Adidas MiCoach to arranger and plan my running. This great app runs symbiotically with the website and give a full training programme tailored to your fitness and goal.

I've currently set mine up for the Whipsnade 10k in June which I'm running. I'm really excited that Jake is running his 2k on the same day.

This week also saw the week that the Terminator said that Skynet would go live and become self aware and start it's offensive on mankind. It seems to have missed the news but I think that Skynet is trying to kill me through MiCoach. Four runs in a week, five hours on my feet with a lot of fast stuff in there. Last Sunday to celebrate VLM I did a ten miler in the sun along the A5. I'm getting back knackered. And it doesn't care that I'm on a hill, just tells me to go faster.

I'm guessing Skynet ran out of money and rather than sending cyborgs back, they're just gonna kill fit people by over training them.

I'm blaming Arnie for this.

Pace this week was solid and consistent, not fast yet, but I've been doing lots of trail and hills recently so my pace has dropped. I'm training for a 40 minute 10k, but I'd be thrilled to see anything under 45 minutes. I don't have a PB for a road ten k. My last one was trail running and took 49 minutes.

Training continues and in the eternal words of Sarah Connor "There is no fate but what we make, the future is not set."

A great run yesterday afternnon, inspired by an article in Mens Running, I decided to take on more of a challenge and ask myself some big questions..

How hard do I really push myself on some runs?

Could I take on that ridiculously steep hill?

What happens if I take that turn instead?



WHat followed was a 10k run that took in my some of my favourite route including a new hill challenge, a run through some woods and taking I'd never done before.

The diet continues and this morning I weighted in at 12st12lbs, total weight loss is now 1 stone and 3lbs since January and more over 6 lbs in the last two weeks as runnig has increased again.

Taking on more of a challenge lead to me discovering a few things. Firstly a nature reserve and secret path to the tree cathedral (not nearly as lord of the Rings as it sounds), I suck at steep hills and my sense of direction is not as good as I thought.

The route was a challenging 10k taking 55 minutes but that included five minutes lost in the forest, a few drink stops and a bloody steep hill.

Back in the twelve's

I've been thinking a lot about running this week. As I've found it harder to get out recently, it's made me think more about why I run and where I want it to take me (apart from around the block and back home).

For me running is a release from the norm, from the grind. The wind and the sweat scrub away the stresses that we all collect on a daily basis and the release you get from finding your running pace alongside a good tune is almost transcendental.
It's like finding yourself halfway up a mountain and looking back at the vista below. Or finding a deserted road on your motorbike and nailing a series of corners before emerging at the other end, upright and breathing, ready to do it all again.
And I think that's it for me. It's the feeling of having accomplished something that most people don't; better than most people do.
While other's are content to be sedentary or go to the gym, I'm in the minority of people who go out and experience a run rather than just finish one. I'm no the best, but that's OK, because at least I'm doing it.

I started this blog looking to improve my running and lose weight, today sees me back in the twelve stone bracket for the first time in years. That's over a stone in three months. I'm not usually one to congratulate myself but screw it, I'm having this one. I've done well. :0)

Bum bags are the way forward.

An email this week reminded me that I have six weeks to go until my five-mile trail run in May around the shuttleworth estate (http://www.dirtrunners.co.uk/).
With a new job and a new baby I've let my running go totally, so I have treated this email as a reminder of the need to run. I'm not worried about covering the distance, but I look back at previous posts and realise I was aiming to set a decent pace and at the moment, the only way I'll get to the end is on a St. John's stretcher.

So I'm back on a calorie controlled diet (and hungry already) in order to lose 12 lbs in 6 weeks and went out interval training this afternoon. 25 minutes of sprintervals was a good kick start to this training programme using the ITGO app on iPhone agin.

Latest bit of kit I've bought is the inov8 Elite3. It got a good rating in the TrailRuning magazine and I bought it for a bargain on http://www.wiggle.co.uk/. while I'm not a fan of the phrase "bum-bag" (as it brings back fashion faux-pas's from my past) you can't argue with how useful they are. This one holds a 500ml bottle tightly enough that it won't fall out, has a storm/waterproof pocket and will also hold a load of other kit.

I'm looking at advertising some runs over Dunstable Downs in the near future as a few people at work seem interested in doing the Black's event in October. Should be good training and interesting to get others off the road and onto the trails.

Weight 13st 4 lbs (04/04/11)
Body fat 20.5%

Target weight = 12st 8lbs.