November 2023

November turned out to be a busier month than I probably had any right to expect, with 34 activities and just over 18 hours of moving about in one way or another. The bulk of that, somewhat unglamorously, was walking — 17 walks covering 74 kilometres, which sounds impressive until you remember that most of them were probably just me plodding around in the dark in a waterproof jacket wondering why I bother. The running was the more pleasing story though: 10 runs, 43 kilometres, and an average pace of 5:25 per kilometre, which for November I'll take without too much argument. I also managed to drag myself to seven HIIT sessions (all indoor, naturally — I'm committed, not unhinged), which at least means I'm doing something about the bits of me that running doesn't particularly help.

So comparing this to October is interesting, and not entirely in the ways I'd hoped. The total active time was actually pretty similar — around 18 hours each month — but in October I walked further and climbed more (84 kilometres and 1,425 metres of elevation against November's 74 kilometres and 1,044 metres), which probably reflects the evenings getting shorter and the weather making any kind of enthusiasm feel like a personality flaw. On the plus side, my running volume went up noticeably — 43 kilometres versus 29 in October — and my average pace improved by about 20 seconds per kilometre, which suggests something is working even if I'm not entirely sure what. Going into December I'd like to think I can keep the running consistency going, though historically this is the point where mince pies and a general sense of festive goodwill do their worst.

Summary generated by Claude