It starts here...

I've done a bit of blogging before, notably when we were doing up our house - the first 60's bungalow with no roof but its own online diary, but as a few clubmates have started blogging their training exploits I thought I might have a bash. It may drift off into un-updated obscurity, as I already record pretty much everything I do on Rubitrack (simply brilliant mac software - watch and weep, PeeCee users) and Garmin Connect, but this will maybe enable me to keep a record of what I was thinking and feeling as well as the numbers.

Current target is Blackpool marathon on 11 April next year, but on the way there's a few races and other stuff I want to do.  My programme (such as it is) consists of a few lunchtime pootles from work, a track session at Nelson once a week and I'm now trying to get a long run each week into the schedule.  To add to that I'm trying to get a couple of sessions on the bike in each week too - usually a commute (13 miles each way) and a 20-60m trip out at the weekend.  All this to be fitted in with a job that requires me to be away most weeks for a night or two, and a family of two little girls who (at 7 and 9) are just approaching the age when there's "something on" all the time.

Anyway - this week's not been a bad 'un - PB at Abbey Dash last Sunday (37:32), a steady 5 lunchtime on Monday, 4 miles round Regent's Park Tuesday then a relatively easy track session Thursday.  We did 6x800m off 200m recoveries, which we ran together (me and mate Richard) at 90s per lap.  That's a bit slower than I've been running reps and a bit faster than Rich has, so I had an agreeably easy time, he was blowing a bit by the end!

Then yesterday I did my first longer run for a while - it's 14m home from work along the canal, so I ran away from work to start with, then back to Skipton along the canal, then a twiddly bit towards Halton East when I got home to make it 16m.  2:05 means the average pace was 7:50, so respectable, and it felt easy enough.  What was a pain was the towpath though - a combination of rain and bikes has made it very muddy and slippy, so not conducive to easy running.  Might have to adjourn to the road route home for a while.

Out for a leaving do last night so just a little delicate today - but may try a few steady miles later.