September 2012

September was a decent month by my recent standards, if I'm honest — twelve runs, just shy of eighty kilometres, and 463 minutes of convincing myself that getting out of bed at stupid o'clock was a good idea. The average pace of 5:51 per kilometre isn't going to trouble anyone at the front of a race, but it's moving in the right direction, and racking up 13 personal records suggests something is clicking, even if I'm not entirely sure what. The morning runs made up the backbone of it, which given the time of year means an increasing amount of running in the dark in kit that probably isn't as visible as it should be. Still, 759 metres of elevation across the month means at least some of it was suitably unpleasant.

So, compared to August, this was a significant step up — four runs and 18 kilometres versus twelve runs and 79, which on paper looks like I suddenly found religion, or at least found my trainers. August was clearly a write-off on the running front, propped up only by a single bike ride that somehow generated 17 PRs (I choose not to examine that too closely). The shift into autumn probably helped, if only because the cooler mornings make the whole endeavour marginally less miserable than sweating through humid August air. Whether I can carry this into October is another question entirely, but for now I'll take the progress and try not to jinx it.

Summary generated by Claude