February 2018

So February, then. Nine activities across the month, which sounds almost respectable until you do the maths and realise that works out to 88 minutes of actual effort — roughly the runtime of a mediocre film, spread across four weeks. I split my time between the bike and the pool, three rides around Horsham totalling 14 kilometres and about 44 minutes in the saddle, and six swims adding up to the same again in time and 2.6 kilometres in the water. The swimming was all indoors, which given February in the UK is less a lifestyle choice and more a basic survival instinct. Average heart rate sitting at 152 on the bike and 132 in the pool suggests I was at least turning up and doing something vaguely purposeful, rather than just floating.

Compared to January, which — and I'll be honest here — was hardly a high watermark itself at just two runs covering 5.7 kilometres in 39 minutes, February does at least show some broadening of activity if not exactly an explosion of volume. The running has quietly disappeared, replaced by cycling and swimming, which probably says something about the weather, the darkness, or just the general January-into-February feeling that outside is not where you want to be. So the direction of travel is vaguely encouraging, even if the distance isn't. More variety is something, and getting in the pool regularly is a habit worth building on — assuming I can keep it going into March when optimism traditionally returns along with the occasional dry morning.

Summary generated by Claude