New year, renewed mojo

Wow...It's been bloomin' ages since I sat down and penned something for my blog.  Mainly because I did no real running through the whole of October through December apart from jogging to keep some kind of fitness on the go.  Plantar fasciitis  is a real pain in the arse (foot), and after four months of trying to sort it out I think I'm definitely on the mend.  Looking at my monthly mileage for last year is a bit depressing to be honest, with three different injuries through the year it was probably my worst year for running since I started out.

It's a shame really because I was 40 in December, and it should have been my last bash at the V35-39 category stuff before moving up to a new veterans category, but I'm gonna put the year from hell behind me and look to this year as a whole new experience at the V40 category (and a whole new set of personal Bests.

The year has started pretty well too!

Looking at January I've managed to get back on track with getting down to Monkton for my club session, and getting out to the parkrun in Newcastle.  I still hate running on the Town Moor (after my marathon experience) but it's a decent 5k effort and if it's not too windy it's canny for a decent time.

 Of course the Newcastle parkrun is the perfect place to run in fancy dress too!  Me & Catherine (Speedy Goth) in a fairly decent 5k time of 26:37. 

If January was getting the building blocks going, the February is going to be putting in some hard work and working on speedy & endurance.  I've already had a good start to the month with two decent club sessions:  5k Hill session, and 16x200 on the track, a run on Wednesday with Alan (which I haven't done for months), and then another bash at the parkrun yesterday

I didn't bother with my watch after a decent week of running, and just went out to enjoy myself really.  It was really cold, and with a slight breeze on the return path the chill took my breath away.  Still, got round in a reasonable time of 23:23 - something to work on for the coming months.  Well done to Mick Joyce, Dave Mills and Barry Pascoe (first timer) from my club, and to Jeff Henderson for great times!

Next week I'll be doing my regular road session on Tuesday with my usual running group, but on Thursday I'm joining Alan Wears for my first bash at his endurance training session.  I know it's hills already, so at least I can prepare for the worst!

Lets hope that this is a great start to a great year of running :)