November 2011

So November, then. Three runs, 35.3 kilometres, and 230 minutes of effort — which sounds respectable until you realise that includes the Marlow Half Marathon, which was doing a lot of the heavy lifting. That race alone will have accounted for a good chunk of both the distance and the 503 metres of climbing, and I'll be honest, I'm fairly certain I hadn't done nearly enough in the weeks beforehand to justify turning up and expecting anything heroic. The average heart rate of 167 beats per minute suggests my body was working hard throughout, even if my legs weren't entirely convinced they'd signed up for this. Six personal records on the month, which is either a sign I'm getting fitter or a sign that my previous benchmarks were embarrassingly low — possibly both.

Compared to October, the drop-off is pretty stark: six runs against three, 50 kilometres back then versus 35 now, and nearly two hours more time on my feet. So the honest read is that November was lighter, and a British autumn with its dark mornings and general grimness probably had something to do with that (it rarely needs much encouragement to put me off). What's slightly encouraging is that the pace held up almost identically — 6:31 per kilometre versus 6:33 — which suggests the fitness hasn't completely evaporated, just the motivation to get out the door. Going into December, the question is whether I can keep the legs ticking over, or whether the mince pies win. They usually win.

Summary generated by Claude