Dry Dry January #4: Done

I fully understand that it won’t seem like a lot to some people. There are those that, physically, can do a lot more than I’m capable of right now and, rightfully, can feel good about themselves for it.

But, as I sit here drinking the last few sips of January-mandated water, I can’t help but feel a little bit happy with what I’ve done this month.

Let’s be clear – there could have been improvements. I could have stuck with the medicine ball work, my diet could have been a bit better – but the main idea behind this month was to get back into running and to really start chipping away at my times having been so pedestrian about it at the back end of last year.

A slow start to the week

Given that the South East was handed its bi-yearly douse of snow last week, and that all of that white stuff had frozen over by Monday morning, there was no chance I was going outside in that. I didn’t even risk going to work (much to the annoyance of some).

That meant by the time Tuesday came ar0und, I’d had an extra day of rest. My body didn’t seem to like that (???) and so Tuesday ended up being by far the worst run of the month. I managed to stumble along the first 3km before giving in and walking the last two. Weirdly, I was only about six minutes behind the first running time I recorded in the month, so props to that first 3km for carrying a lot of the weight there.

Having then needed a couple more days to soothe my legs from a pain I haven’t had for about eight months now, I went out again on Friday, tackling the same uphill route that had challenged me earlier in the week.

It wasn’t comfortable or pretty, but I did get around this time, which was the only aim for that run. Get it done by any means necessary.

Sprint finish

That meant that I had just one more day to fit in the last run of the month (as Saturday is just a no-go for anything like that).

After waking up and having to force myself out the door, I actually felt quite good once I got going – which is rare. For those of you reading that also run, you know that feeling where time actually seems to be going by quickly while you’re doing it? I might have just made that up, but I got that feeling.

By the end of it, it felt like I was sprinting, and it’s a good thing I did because it landed me my best time of the month at 32:04 – down from the 38.59 I started January with.

It felt disgusting initially, but when the blood-flow returned to my head and I started to think rationally, I realised I’d never set out to cut anything like that off – maybe five minutes at the absolute most. Running-wise, I definitely over-achieved – but it’s given me more motivation than I already had to carry on and achieve more going forward.

That’s what progress looks like, right?

The rest of it

I am slightly annoyed about the other exercises than I had planned to do in-between. However, when I planned this month out, I had no idea that I’d be working in between too as that all happened so fast. And I had no idea I’d be getting up at 4.30 am in order to get to work.

It sounds like a shoddy excuse, but I was just a lot more tired than I’d expected to be for those middle bits. There will be a point in the future where I’ll just have to suck it up, but for a first month of getting back into the swing of this I don’t think it’s the end of the world to have dropped it.

The next biggest thing after the running for me was the drinks. I’m very surprised I never gave in with that to be honest (a reminder: it was one coffee in the morning as soon as I wake up, and then nothing but water afterwards).

The hardest bit hasn’t even been fizzy drinks as I thought it would be – it was basic stuff like not having juice, squash, etc – anything with actual flavour.

They’ll definitely be coming back in from tomorrow, but fizzy and alcohol will stay on strict moderation for sure. I’m shocked at how much I haven’t missed them.

What’s next?

You haven’t completely escaped running and exercise posts – sorry. I plan on upping the game in terms of that next month.

I won’t be posting it as a series like I have been this month (at least I don’t plan to. Let me know if you’d like that?) and I want to start putting some different stuff on here anyway. I’ve had a lot of football suggestions, and other suggestions are more than welcome too.

Hope you’ve enjoyed following along with this. I’ve not enjoyed partaking in it, although the writing bit after has been quite nice.

Also, well done for getting through January, an absolute shithouse of a month. We’re 1/12 of the way there. Yay.