September is always a busy month. As a teacher, work tends to ‘hit the fan’ as it were, and don’t get me wrong, I love my job, but bloomin’ ‘eck I’m glad when October rolls around and things calm down a bit! There always seems to be a multitude of other stuff that congregates around September too… Arts meetings, delivering workshops, attending workshops; and then there’s just the experience of getting back in to a routine after the summer.
Since I last posted an update (about the City of Salford 10k) I’ve also been getting more comfortable with cycling being a part of my daily routine, having now cycled to and from work for three weeks in a row. Not sure how long I’ll be able to keep that up as the days get shorter and colder, as well as potentially wetter, but so far so good. I’ve really noticed the change my body has made to adapt to this new activity too; my glutes are definitely much stronger (excuse the personal details!) and I appear to have developed a subtle six pack. I’m not sure I’d have put this at the top of my list of aims and objectives but at least it’ll make me a stronger runner! I’ve had to be realistic though, about the stresses this has been putting on El Boddo and I’ve been feeling it in my knees, weirdly. As such, my running mileage has (temporarily!) dropped a bit more than I’d have liked it to in recent weeks and I’ve also been feeling a little run down (no pun intended) over the last week or so. I’ve never been very good at taking the rest, despite knowing full well how important it is and find it very frustrating. However, part of being good at something is doing the bits you find hard as well as the bits you enjoy and so I’ve swallowed my pride and been sensible, cutting down on the running in order to let my core strength and fitness catch up with this new cycling lark. I’m feeling quite a bit better now I’ve rested a bit though and this weekend I put together a new training plan to get me through to the Lancaster Half Marathon that I have registered for on the 2nd of November! Nothing like a set goal to get you going!
And on the subject of rest… next Thursday is National Poetry Day. The theme is ‘Remember’. I’m bending the rules a little, perhaps but this cheesy little ditty is something I wrote to help me remember that taking rest days are important.
Since I last posted an update (about the City of Salford 10k) I’ve also been getting more comfortable with cycling being a part of my daily routine, having now cycled to and from work for three weeks in a row. Not sure how long I’ll be able to keep that up as the days get shorter and colder, as well as potentially wetter, but so far so good. I’ve really noticed the change my body has made to adapt to this new activity too; my glutes are definitely much stronger (excuse the personal details!) and I appear to have developed a subtle six pack. I’m not sure I’d have put this at the top of my list of aims and objectives but at least it’ll make me a stronger runner! I’ve had to be realistic though, about the stresses this has been putting on El Boddo and I’ve been feeling it in my knees, weirdly. As such, my running mileage has (temporarily!) dropped a bit more than I’d have liked it to in recent weeks and I’ve also been feeling a little run down (no pun intended) over the last week or so. I’ve never been very good at taking the rest, despite knowing full well how important it is and find it very frustrating. However, part of being good at something is doing the bits you find hard as well as the bits you enjoy and so I’ve swallowed my pride and been sensible, cutting down on the running in order to let my core strength and fitness catch up with this new cycling lark. I’m feeling quite a bit better now I’ve rested a bit though and this weekend I put together a new training plan to get me through to the Lancaster Half Marathon that I have registered for on the 2nd of November! Nothing like a set goal to get you going!
And on the subject of rest… next Thursday is National Poetry Day. The theme is ‘Remember’. I’m bending the rules a little, perhaps but this cheesy little ditty is something I wrote to help me remember that taking rest days are important.
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One of the things that contributed to the busyness of September was also an exciting and running-related event in its own right; I have now completed a Leadership in Running Fitness course and as soon as my latest DBS (Disclosure and Barring Service) Check is complete and returned to England Athletics. I will be licensed to run affiliated running groups. This is quite an important development for me. I always think you learn so much about a subject from passing skills and knowledge on to others and assuming I do manage to get something going, I know I will derive a lot of enjoyment from helping others to improve their running and discover all the sport has to offer, just as I have done. Watch this space, especially if you’re near Manchester; you could be plodding with the Runnermouse sooner than you think!
Think that’s about as much as I have to say for now, aside from another ‘thank you’ to Cannonball Events for the prize voucher for coming first woman overall in the Todmorden 5k series. The shoes I bought with it (Mizuno Wave Sayonara; the ‘upgrade’ of the model I ran the marathon and many other races in) arrived this morning (see above!) and I am confident that they, along with the motivation of my new training plan will get me back in the swing of things pretty soon!
