Day 7 - 1 week down!

(I'll dig out the figures later, but distance was 3mi on the dot and speed was about 7m59 av)

1 week down. This is officially, definitely and absolutely the longest number of consecutive days I've run for. I think...! And it's totally unimpressive. The run, that is.

I've been having a bit of think about this whole idea. What does it achieve? What am i trying to achieve? Speed? Distance? Stamina? All of these things need something more specific that just pounding the roads for 3 miles every day. It doesn't get me down, and I'm not going to stop, because I've got something I didn't expect from this - I'm actually really enjoying it! I don't really care what the point is, to be honest - it's just fun. I never thought I'd say that (and I'll probably be swearing about it all later), but I love getting out on these freezing days and seeing the world.

The biggest down side so far is that I'm starting to feel absolutely knackered. I sort-of unintentionally started several things in January - one was this running idea, and another was to try and lose a bit of weight by cutting out snacks etc and limiting the amount I eat. I've been averaging about 1500 calories or slightly over each day, and I'm starting to feel a bit tired overall. I don't know whether it's the running or dieting that's the problem - most likely a bit of both - but the thing I'm most concerned about is ending up ill and not being able to run, so I'm trying to eat sensibly when I feel I need it and get lots of fruit and veg in, and am stuffing in vitamin supplements like they're going out of fashion! I can honestly say, though, that I can get out and enjoy a run when I feel far worse than times in the past when I've cancelled 'cause I've been a bit hungry/tired.

I still think that fundamentally it's a mental thing - the reason for doing this. I work better without a choice, so going out every day should make it easier in that respect. And, like I said in an earlier post, I want to not be bothered about going for a run in the future: not try and think of excuses to put it off to tomorrow etc. I'm still looking forward to seeing what sort of person I am at the end of this month.

S'pose I'd better put something about todays run - I'm writing this in the evening after getting back from the pub (I had ONE pint! That's quite a big thing for me to limit it to a single pint!). The run was exactly the same route as yesterday (except I stopped at 3 miles on the dot and walked the last little bit). I did find the hill a bit easier - in fact, overall it felt slightly easier. Not easy, but easier - and as long as it goes in that direction I'm very happy. I'm still surprised that it's not still really, really hard this early on, but what the heck. Most of the crunchy snow had gone - there were still a few patches, but it's pretty much back to normal with a few frozen puddles and lines of ice on the heathland bit of the run. I must stick a picture of the heath area up on here to show where I run...

Tomorrow it's running with Kev - likely around 6 miles and a good chat. It'll be interesting to see how I cope with a bit of distance. I'll let you know...