Day 20: Legs are working, brain is not working

RUN: 2.6 miles

It's not the most exciting Saturday evening I've ever spent, but tonight I put in a few miles.
My legs felt the best they have for ages, so hopefully things are looking up.
I set off straight up a big hill, which was rather ambitious at this early stage. I admit I had to have a little rest halfway up.
But I used the taking of this picture as an excuse...

What a lovely place to live

Anyway, I took the photo and carried on. Halfway round my route I realised I hadn't had an update from the lady in my ear (the MapMyRun lady gives me an update every five minutes - "Time: five minutes. Distance: 0.6 miles" or whatever) so it turned out that my timer had stopped when I did. Oops. Bit of a user error.

Here's the route that went a bit wrong

Here's the proper route I did, made on MapMyRun.com

Day 19: Putting the legs to the test

RUN: 2.5 miles

My legs have been feeling good for the past few days - hardly any pain from the shin splints - so I thought I would break out of my 1-mile rut and try a longer route this lunchtime, just from home.
So off I went around the roads and paths of High Royds.
I'm not aiming for speed at the moment but I had quite a good pace for me (8.5 min/mile). It would have been even better if I wasn't faffing about trying to take a photo of all the wild rabbits in High Royds. They're quite quick... I missed them. So I took this instead. The ground is still quite boggy from all the rain.

Here's today's map and information

Day 18: No pain, and a little gain

RUN: 1.1 miles

What a difference a few days makes. My legs are feeling so much better. Although I don't want to jinx myself, so shhh.
On a late shift today, so went out in the morning and did a short one because I was a bit short on time and also aching quite a bit after yesterday's spin class. Shins felt good though - not even a single twinge.

Click for the map and info on today's run

Day 17: First spin class and a 'long' run!

RUN: 1.7 miles

Well today has been a good day. If you can count getting up at the crack of dawn to go to a cycling class as 'good'.
I went to the 7am class at the gym and apparently we got lucky and got the 'easy' instructor. Although it wasn't exactly easy, it wasn't as painful as I imagined.
So, having done that, the legs feel quite strong today and I feel like the shin splints are easing off a lot. So this evening I went for 1.7 miles! It's still not very far, but it feels good to be able to go further and not have to spend longer stretching than actually running!
Got home late and needed a quick tea before my run. So guess what...

The tea of champions!

(I do not normally eat like this, by the way)

Here's the details of today's run

Day 16: Good morning miserable weather!

RUN: 1.0 miles (again!)

This morning I went out for a run very early doors - but not early enough to fit in more than a mile, like I thought I might. It was very damp and dreary - a lovely July morning (!)
It was quite refreshing to go out nice and early, and before I was really awake I was back on the doorstep, one mile done. So dying to run further - I don't feel like I'm improving my fitness at all just doing the mile each day. But I must be patient - body knows best and all that.
Spinning class in the morning... argh!

Click here to see proof of today's same old mile route

Day 15: Back to work - running after hours

Run: 1.0 miles (again!)

Well today I went back to work after two weeks off and it was down to earth with a bump. Really busy with one thing and another, so worked 14 hours - and still needed to run! So it was a bit of a late one. I'll just say it was my first run in the dark.
So here I am, just before midnight icing my shins and writing my blog. I need to get up early tomorrow to run because I've got another busy day ahead. Then it's the dreaded spinning class at 7am on Wednesday!
I knew it would be half the challenge just to fit running into my packed schedule, so I can't complain.
It wouldn't be a challenge if it was easy.

Click for today's route details (same as past few days - might try a bit further in the morning if the shins are feeling brave)

Day 14: Two weeks in, only 27.7 miles done

RUN: 1.0 miles

I've just been on my one-mile route again, soaked in Epsom salts and iced my shins (what a palaver for a 10-minute run!) and my legs do feel rather ok. I might try go a bit further again tomorrow. I'm going to spinning (cycling) class at the gym on Wednesday to try to strenghthen my legs up a bit. It's going to be difficult... think I might die.
The weather is much better now, a big improvement on the monsoon conditions we've had lately. Although the ground is still a bit muddy and the fields still a bit waterlogged.

I was hoping to have more miles than this done by this point, but really it is sensible to gradually increase my mileage. So it's not too bad, really.

Click for map and details of this run