The Walker With Heart

A question I asked myself as I pushed for the last km at lunch time... A question a mate (and far better athlete than me) said when I let her know how the first serious training run went... A question I ruminated on as I dashed around this afternoon hating forms, despising ticketing machines and pondering the meaning of fate... Basically, I set a new 5 mile PB, 50min and 17s.  Not greatly fast by running standards, but 50s faster than my last 5mile PB.  Why "how?"? I've not run a great deal for the last couple of months... I've not run at all since my night run over Rivington, I've had a lurking cold that wiped me out... This week I've felt better so as is my wont, and given my next visit to Rivington (a small matter of a trail marathon) is only 8 weeks away, I've been hammering the gym in the morning - hilly 3 milers in 15 min, followed straight away by 370ft on the stepper in 8min... Both Monday and Tuesday... Oh, I also climbed moderately ...

Race (noun) run where I run with a number on my front... Night - after sunset Hill - feature of the landscape that creates an upward protuberance Off-road - not on smooth or flat running surface - broken cobbles, rough paths, tree routes AKA ankle eater Cold snap - a period of time when the temperature drops.  AKA a bit parky! Combine all of them for my first event run of the year; some runs I do for training, races I tend to do for a variety of reasons (speed, views, enjoyment, challenge) and then there are the events - night time, off road running up a hill in a cold snap is an event run... And I enjoyed it.  My predictions were - no longer than 90 min, and I'd probably be in the last 5... I was correct on both. I learnt a few things - two torches; one on the head and one in the hand, does help get a 3D view of the world.  The headtorch on its own is good, but a very flat view of the world. I need to get fitter, I knew that taking a light couple of month...

Ok, it's 2013... It's an important year for The Children's Heart Federation as we're going to be 25 years old. A quarter of a century... So how should this be marked?  The CHF website will have the details of the big set piece events - the dragonboat racing , the biking across Jordan and so on... But I'll be doing my normal of plodding the miles out. My first target is going to be one I should be able to do - basically duplicate this year - 25 miles a week, on average for 52 weeks. 2092km in a year, 1300 miles... So, with a mile and a bit between friends, a marathon a week... The stretch target, the if I get it all correct target, is 2500km in 2013 - see that magic number 25... Ok there's a change of units, but I'm some loose grip on my faculties!  2500km is 1553 miles, or a shade under 30 miles a week. What will make the difference between the two targets, well keeping it going throughout the year, my 2 months "off" following the...