Just run it off!

Completed my last scheduled run of the week (and month of January for that matter). It has been snowing again this weekend and the park was the worst its been so far for running. It felt like running through a minefield, carefully having to contemplate where to put your feet, cause one wrong step could result in disaster. The slush, snow and ice don't make it much fun to run: wet feet, slippery, people everywhere, and having to concentrate more on where you run, rather than the running itself. It also feels wayyy more heavy like running through a sandpit with loose sand. I'm not a fan of these days. But the pain in my calves has gone away, as has my cold! :)

On the flip side, the park was packed with people today. And during the 3 laps I spontaneously bumped into friends and family, meaning I stopped to walk and talk on two occasions. The first time was nicely timed because I got the mother of all cramps in my side, just below my right lung. Excruciating. But walking it off doesn't seem to work, you simply need to run it off ( oh yeah and a tip that works for me is to blow on the back of your hand, looks funny I know, but works). I've noticed that on a few occasions. Keep running and eventually (5-10 minutes later) the knife is slowly pulled from the ribcage...

I've run 10 KM today, 29 KM this week and a bit more than 100 KM in January (in 11 hours, running 9.3 KM/H with 152 BPM on average). A good month and excited to see what Feb will bring, hopefully more progress.

Next week, 6 weeks out to the competition, its gonna be busy as I have a 45 minute run (CANCELED), heavy duty speedwork, and 2 x 70 minute runs in the holy schedule. Hope the park is accessible!

It's very hard in the beginning to understand that the whole idea is not to beat the other runners. Eventually you learn that the competition is against the little voice inside you that wants you to quit.

- George Sheehan