December 2019

So December, then. Fourteen activities and 483 minutes of moving about, which sounds reasonably respectable until you compare it to November and realise I'd essentially taken my foot off the gas at exactly the point most sensible people would be building toward something. The running held up well enough — six runs, 48.4 kilometres at a 5:32 pace, including what I'm choosing to call a "muddy run" (accurate, I suspect, in every possible sense given the time of year), and a Christmas Day run which either makes me dedicated or slightly unhinged depending on your point of view. I did manage a PR in there somewhere, which I'll take. The rest of the month was a pleasingly eclectic mix of five weight training sessions, a couple of swims, and — perhaps most tellingly — one solitary yoga session, presumably in a brief moment of optimism about becoming a more balanced human being.

So compared to November, the drop-off is fairly stark — 21 activities and 663 minutes down to 14 and 483, with the cycling disappearing entirely and the running trimming from 67 kilometres to 48. Honestly, I can't say I'm surprised. November had a decent rhythm to it; December has Christmas in it, which is essentially organised chaos with mince pies. The heart rate data at least tells a consistent story — I was working hard when I did get out, averaging 164 bpm on the runs, so the effort was there even if the volume wasn't. Going into the new year, the bones of some reasonable fitness are still there, buried somewhere beneath the festivities. I just need to actually show up more consistently, which is, as ever, the plan.

Summary generated by Claude