March 2012

So March turned out to be something of a resurrection after a fairly grim February. Eleven activities across the month — eight runs and three rides — adding up to just shy of twelve hours of actual movement, which by recent standards feels almost virtuous. The runs totalled 59 kilometres at an average pace of 5:55 per kilometre, which is respectable enough, and somewhere in among the morning slogs was the Bisham Half Marathon, which I'm choosing to regard as the centrepiece of the month rather than examine too closely. The rides were a pleasant rediscovery of the bike, covering 111 kilometres with 849 metres of climbing and, apparently, 23 personal records — though I suspect some of those say more about how little I'd ridden lately than how well I rode.

February, by contrast, was a single lonely run of 10.8 kilometres in 72 minutes, which tells its own story (and not a flattering one). So the jump from one activity to eleven is either a sign of genuine momentum returning or the kind of early-spring enthusiasm that tends to peak around now and quietly disappear by mid-April. The lighter mornings are clearly doing their job — it's remarkable how much easier it is to drag yourself out of bed when it isn't pitch black and horizontal rain. Going forward the base is there, more or less, and the legs seem willing enough; the trick now is not to let a couple of decent weeks convince me I'm fitter than I actually am.

Summary generated by Claude