January 2025

January turned out to be a surprisingly solid month, all things considered. 59 activities and just over 45 hours of moving about — which, for the depths of a British winter, I'll take. The bulk of that came from walking, 32 outings and nearly 180km worth of Afternoon and Lunch Walks that I suspect are doing more for my sanity than my fitness. The running was where things felt genuinely encouraging though — 14 runs, 72.6km, and an average pace of 5:25 per km, with 13 of those sensibly conducted indoors rather than in the dark and the wet. The Morning HIIT sessions got a proper outing too, 13 of them at an average heart rate of 136 bpm, which suggests I was working hard enough to feel virtuous but not so hard as to do anything reckless.

So compared to December, the numbers are noticeably up — 59 activities versus 50, and around 315 more minutes of actual effort. The running almost doubled (72.6km against 35.1km), which I'm quietly pleased about, though I should probably acknowledge that December included Christmas, which has a well-documented effect on one's motivation and schedule. The swimming disappeared entirely (December's two swims totalling a heroic 0.1km will not be mourned), and the elevation on walks dropped a little, which likely reflects fewer countryside outings and more pavement-pounding during lunch breaks. Going forward, the direction of travel is the right one — more runs, more consistency — and if I can keep building through February without the usual excuses catching up with me, there might actually be something worth racing later in the year.

Summary generated by Claude