2012!

A tad belated but Happy New Year

Things have been progressing well, have been steadily increasing the miles and although the weather has been a tad grim at times i've enjoyed every single run since the new year.

I have been thinking more and more about structure in my running..... and have decided not to bother.

It just goes against every single reason why i run, i have tried in the past to do specific training sessions on specific days of the week and find i soon get bored, very quickly. I had ideas of periodising my training up until Sierre - Zinal this august but i was getting obsessed with stats, how many miles, how much ascent etc etc and thought that this was just not me. Yeah maybe i would run quicker and progress more if i did 'train' properly ( I have started to hate the word training) but then again maybe i wouldn't, if the enjoyment factor isn't there would i retain the motivation? I'm not sure that works for me at all. I have felt a significant shift in my attitude towards running since getting back out there, and it's most certainly not results driven, it's about exploring new places and feeling that sense of belonging in an enviroment i feel at home in, day to day challenges and experiences and feeling more in tune with my surroundings. Having said that i still haven't lost the desire to race, i hope that this new way of approaching my running, that of running as and when i feel, will actually improve my performances in the races that i do. This last month i have been deciding on the day what i feel like doing, if i have felt good i have run long and fast if not short and slow, and i have never been so motivated to get out and run as now, so something may be working, only time will tell.

I have deciced to open my 2012 racing account next weekend at the Long Mynd Valleys race in Shropshire, 11.5 miles / 4500ft ascent , a race i haven't run since 2007, it's a real tough race with 3 steep climbs in the last 5 miles, I am really looking forward to pinning a number on my vest again and hope it will give me a good indication of how i am running at the moment.

I have also got back into climbing after a 3 year break, and am really enjoying it again, only been indoors for the last couple of weeks but hope to get a bit stronger and confident and get back outside in the coming weeks. Me and my climbing partner have booked onto a winter skills course in the cairngorms at the end of febuary and i hope to combine this with a crevasse rescue course in the spring and then hopefully with my rock climbing experience can make a nice step up into the alps this summer as well as getting out on the rock more.

All in all it's an exciting time at the moment,  and with work, studies, running and climbing i am really busy. I will also hopefully know soon where i am going to be living for the next 3 years of my life, would be nice to know!