July 2009

So July was, by my own recent standards at least, a fairly productive month. Six runs, just under 45 kilometres, and 282 minutes of my life spent in trainers rather than on the sofa — which feels like progress. The average pace of 6:15 per kilometre won't be troubling anyone at the sharp end of a race, but it's honest running rather than the occasional desperate shuffle. A couple of personal records in there too, which I'll take quietly and without too much ceremony.

So comparing that to June, the contrast is fairly stark — one run, 5.4 kilometres, and 32 minutes of activity for the entire month. To be fair to myself (and I'll take any opportunity to be fair to myself), June was clearly one of those months where life got in the way, or the weather was doing something unpleasant, or both. The fact that July saw six times the volume suggests something clicked — probably the longer evenings and the general sense that you've run out of excuses when it's light until nine o'clock. Whether I can carry that momentum into August, or whether this is one of those brief training upswings I'll look back on fondly before the wheels come off again, remains to be seen.

Summary generated by Claude