12% of a plan…

 It’s been a month.  A month since the new heart valve was inserted… the chaffing has died down, I’ve been sensible and built my walking up, restarted my apple fitness plus bits and bobs (boy has it been a long time since I bent like that, or cycled/spun like that) and I’ve been for two runs – a gentle 3k which worked as a prelude to my return to my local parkrun… I finished, my tally went up 1, and I remembered just how tough it is to run the first mile on so soft, dry sand… In hindsight I would’ve been better to walk the first third and conserve my energy (and pool of fitness) to the prom and the grass thirds… 

Relive 'Return to Parkrun!'

Yes, it does look the first bit is out to sea… 

Monday was a random day off work to get out and do something, so with a bit of head scratch and some nifty plotting on the OS Mapping app I wandered along the canal, and then down the Transpennine Trail & “loop line”… Almost pancake flat, I know it well from marathon training of years gone by.  The plan was simple, follow my nose to the end of Merseyrail line that’d get me back to home (via lunch)… 

And I did… 

Relive 'Distance test - ✅✅✅'

Which brings me to the plan… well, to quote a space rabbit, 12% of a plan… 

The rest of this year is all about getting a bit fitter and a bit less fatter… Jumping into a hard program is a recipe for injuring myself, and with my frozen shoulder still thawing (and the physio reminding me this stage could last over a year… ) injuries are something I would like to avoid. 

So what’s the plan… 

Keep doing the walking, throw in a couple of runs a week, something long (walk, run and eventually cycle)… balance this with some stretching, yoga, core and even an occasional HIIT session and my baseline should improve.  I’ll even start being sensible with the food (no crash dieting, been there – doesn’t work), this is sensible rebalancing.  

The events we have in the calendar, lend themselves to this plan… 

GNR – walk/run… tab it out, enjoy the day.

Scouse 5k – I’m in a giant wig… hopefully run/walk.

Ladybower 20 miler – it’s a walk, its mainly flat… 
Winter Tolkien Trail 10k – cold, hopefully wet… close to the end of this phase… let’s see… 

Parkruns when we’re about… I have a red t-shirt to chase down… 

That will take me to 2023… and then I need a challenge, I’m a big fan of a Big Hairy Audacious Goals (BHAGs)… https://www.jimcollins.com/concepts/bhag.html (Jim’s wife is a triathlete, he’s a bit of a runner and he’s a rarity in management gurus – he can give a decent talk). 

The search for a BHAG will also happen during the next couple of months. I’d love it to be that triathlon I wanted to do before I was 50 (I’m not going to beat myself up about the impact of a global pandemic) but this shoulder can barely take throwing a tennis ball, let alone pick up my swimming lessons! So, probably on foot, possibly with a bit of bike (shoulder dependent)… and definitely fun!