Desire....


I’m not a runner who runs everyday or every week, I move in and out of desiring the feeling that running gives me… That desire can be generated, when I am facing a run or a distance that genuinely scares me – a marathon will do that.

Or it comes back naturally, softly insinuating itself in the back of my head.  I catch myself wondering how to take my kit on a work trip, wondering where my Garmin is and whether its charged.  I start thinking about what I’m eating, not changing much, but just thinking…

It must be infuriating to watch, as I seemingly go into running hibernation, still turning out for runs and not doing horrendously – nowhere as good as I should be, nowhere as good as I had been six months earlier.

Which brings me to my first race of 2017 – an mixed terrain half marathon along the Wirral Way – I printed the plan, and I followed it for a week and then I didn’t.  The desire wasn’t there… So plan B is going to kick in, I know I can run halfs with little or no training – not fast and not prettily – but I start and I finish.  As its mixed terrain, but flat, the target will be to try and complete it in the same time as the GNR or Dublin – c2:45.   My training is going to be rather specific – I’m going to walk/run the route… Not sure how many times, but it shall be done in a way that I’ll enjoy – so expect the night running tracks from endomondo, the weird times and odd photos will kick in soon.

If the desire comes back then that will be great, and I can feel the tingling, the itch is beginning to come back. For now I’m going to keep getting my steps in, if the average person only gets 7000 steps a day then I’m double the average as minimum – my fitbit is set that I don’t get the gamification reward until 14,000 steps (about 10k) each and every day.

It some ways it would be nice if I had one of those personalities that meant I could keep steady on things like running, but I know I’m a neophyte about a lot of things so “starting again” as some of my friends call this is what I need to do.

Now, where is my garmin???

TTFN

Paul


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