And We're Off... Janathon!

Distance: 2.05 miles
Time: 14:55
Shoes: VFFs
Music: Guns n' Roses - "Chinese Democracy"


I've gone and done it again...

In 2009, my sister (@sanemezza on Twitter) and I decided it would be a really clever idea to run every day in January, which I blogged about pretty much each day starting here. We missed out 2010, but then in 2011, the group grew to 4 and we did the same blogging idea here.

I was trying to ignore the fact that we were getting near to the end of 2011 and some idiot would probably suggest doing it again. Then my sister tweeted about Janathon - a more formalised approach with a lot more people involved. So what could I do...? :)

I have lots to write, but I'm not going to do it all today. So I'll just say a few bits about me and the plan for the month.

I've been running for 15 odd years on and off. The last 5 years or so has been much more "on" than off, but I still find consistency a problem so I do *like* the idea of running every day as it's plain and simple. I haven't run much in December, but I did Dublin marathon in October, and I'm entered into Brighton in April this year, so I need to get back into it properly! I much prefer speed to distance - something I was reminded of during the Dublin training.

To make this attempt at 31 days of running a bit different I'm going to try and do most of it in my VFFs:

Nothing like a bit of insanity, eh?! I've had them for about 14 months, and run about 150 miles in them in total, so I have to be gentle getting into them properly. I'm limiting to about 2 miles each day for the first few days, and slowly. Which I completely messed up today but charging round the 2 miles (for me, at least)!

It's going to be interesting, and I will be doing some runs in normal shoes - for instance, if I go to the running club - I'm not planning on 10 miles in VFFs just yet!

And there will be LOTS of stretch and foam-rolling. I'm also going to sit down tonight and read about proper technique with barefoot running as I've generally only skim-read things so far, but I need to be doing the right thing if I'm going to try and build up the miles.

So there we go. The start of January... the start of another load of running. But this time, I get to look at other people's blogs, and feel part of something much bigger!

I am completely prepared to eat my words, but right now... I'm actually looking forward to the rest of this!

Until tomorrow...