Janathon 2011

I have signed up to Janathon 2011. What is it? Well it is the colder version of Juneathon which I failed miserably at earlier in 2010 due to injury. one the wiser what I am talking about?

Along with 150 others or so I have signed up to try and run and blog about it every day in January 2011.If you are interested the rules are to be found here  . You don't have to run you just have to exercise in some way every day so swimming and cycling also count.It is totally free to enter.

It isn't really about the winning and I haven't even looked at the prizes but yes there are some for those that stick it out the longest. For me it is more about the opportunity for social networking having some banter and fun and exchange of blog posts as we slip and slide our way for January. I am hoping the virtual link up with other participants will help me get through January and be in a  fitter state.

Mentally I believe it has also come at the right time for me as I was made redundant recently from a job I held for the last 15 years and I am now searching for new employment. This is why my blog posts have been sporadic of recent weeks as I have come to terms with being unemployed for the 1st time in my life.

So Janathon is ideal for me as I have come to realise that I shouldn't feel guilty about going for a run whilst I am also looking for work. It is a case of remaining fit and ready for when a new opportunity arrives.

There is a Janathon 2011 Facebook page just key in Janathon in the facebook search box.

We are also logging all of our training miles at the RunningFree website. Quite an impressive site worth a visit if you are familiar with it. Loads of running groups, running tools etc

Beetons Way Hill Running Session

Instead of visiting the track at the moment I have been doing some hill sessions. The last couple of weeks the track has often been closed anyway but when it is icy it normally means running on the grass on the inside of the track.

Anyway after a year of poor training and much injury I have decided to build up my weekly mileage very slowly. Last week I did just 16 miles and I am upping it by a mile a week at the moment so 17 miles is the agenda this week.

Within this total I am including 1-2 better quality runs either a track or hill session and a longer run or a short tempo. The long run  isn't very long just 7 miles at the moment.

My run today was 2 miles warm up and warm down to get to the top of Beetons Way. Then the main hill session consisted of 10 hill repeats running hard up the hill and jogging back down again.

I run from the bottom lamp post after emerging from under the bridge to the lamp post at the top of the hill beyond the mini roundabout.

My repeat times for the hill climbs were 55,57,58,58,57,56,59,60,59,58. I was doing close to 50 seconds a year a go so I have a long way to go if I am to get back to that level.

I find this a hard session and the run home is a jog