Benefit of Dry January

 5.05 km

6m 57s per km

How terribly slow, but that isn't the point. I think it's not far off the time I did for my 2 Parkruns, so at least I'm not getting any worse.

And it was OK.  I didn't get the urge to walk like I've done before - not that it was easy, but I think I might have had a bit more energy. I haven't lost any weight or anything - perhaps it's Dry January finally paying off. Only 4 days to go of course - perhaps I will continue into Arid February 

Pain tally: right knee niggle, nothing too bad: it remains to be seen if the stair-based agony kicks in again (it's been quite mild recently, thank you for asking)

Also - the outside of my left foot - it's something to do with tight arches I think. I'm working on them, being conscious of them when I'm walking to make sure I'm flexing.

Such a dull post. Apologies. 

What have I done?

Basically, I've been putting off going for a run for weeks through worry about my Achilles. It's still not right, but I can live with it. And so, with some trepidation, I set off this morning in the crisp winter sunshine with a spring in my step. 

And it was OK. That first burst of enthusiasm when nothing hurts and I was on full puff went away quite fast, but I kept going There was one moment of weakness when I felt like walking - but I'm putting myself through this cos I'm unfit and the process of keeping going is what changes that, is what will turn me into a running machine.

4.13km

6m 35 per km 

So nothing to brag about. Nothing to be ashamed of 

As for the 'what have I done?' thing - it means I've run out of excuses for sitting on my increasingly fat bum rather than go for a run. 

Slog not Jog

First run of the year, always good to get it out of the way. Even if it's not a total triumph.

Although - it was a success - I got out on the road again, that's a biggie.

My Achilles so far is OK - it's been aching dully for months but it's not feeling bad - a bit throbby maybe. My knees - they seem ok with running, it's stairs which are the killer. 

So according to mapmyrun I ran 0.38km at just over  7 min a km. I accuse the app of not measuring correctly cos I know I ran for over 20 mins. So it wasn't heroic by any stretch of the imagination but I know mapymyrun did not make an accurate assessment of my effort. 

And I felt OK. I have lost a lot of fitness over the past few months and gained a lot of pounds but with Dry January kicking the year off to a good start (Day 3 and all is well) and only 1/4 of the Christmas cake nommed I feel quite positive about 2021

It can't be any worse can it...