August 2021

August turned out to be a reasonably decent month, all things considered. Thirty-four activities and just over 1,275 minutes of moving myself around in various directions — running, walking, swimming, and a handful of FiiT workouts thrown in for good measure (or punishment, depending on how you look at it). The running was the headline act: 14 runs, 110.6 kilometres, and an average pace of 5:23 per kilometre which I'm quietly pleased with, even if I probably shouldn't be too smug about it. The Morning London run was a particular highlight — there's something about running through the city early before it fully wakes up that makes you feel like you've earned the rest of the day, even if your legs are quietly disagreeing with you by kilometre eight.

So comparing August to July, the improvement is fairly obvious on paper — 34 activities versus 22, and 1,275 minutes versus 984 — and I'd like to claim it was all down to iron discipline and a carefully structured training plan. Realistically, it probably has more to do with the fact that it was summer, the mornings were light, and getting out of bed before six feels considerably less like a moral failing when it isn't pitch black and raining. The running volume crept up from 93.9 to 110.6 kilometres, the pace nudged forward slightly, and 44 personal records in a single month suggests the fitness is genuinely building rather than just flatlining. The question now, as the nights start drawing in and the alarm goes off in the dark, is whether any of this holds.

Summary generated by Claude