I'm still here!

Blimey… I’ve not written for a while, have I?

Well, it’s not for lack of activity. Since returning from Paris on July 6^th I’ve been out running seven times, clocking up 63.3km. I’ve also started spending some time in the garage… not sorting it out (and boy does it need that!), but making use of the weight bench therein.

…oh yes, the weight bench. Don’t worry, I hear the murmurs. Why would Squintani own a weight bench? A garden bench, just about – but… a weight bench?

Fear not, I never bought the thing. I never ventured onto a website thinking, “I know what, I’ll order a weight bench today!”. I’m not even sure I own it… Basically, a couple were parting ways and we were asked to host the weight bench in our garage for a little while. We have a double garage and only one car that never enters the garage anyway, so, even with the useless junk that needs taking to the tip (all of one mile away from our place) knocking around, we can usually fit the odd weight bench in. And we did. And we do. I’m not sure the bloke (whom I’ve never met) has any intention of ever coming to look for his weight bench, and over the last two weeks I’ve finally sat on it and started to acquaint myself with it. Our relationship is still in its infancy, but with the so-called summer we’re having we find each other’s company bearable. Plus everywhere I read it tells you to not overdo it on the running, so I might as well expand the scope of my activities. As McCabe probably said at some point when buying another club somewhere in the world… but let’s not go there. That (amongst other things) is what A United View is for!

The old weight-loss thing’s going alright, too. I’m 4.4kg down on three weeks ago and, more importantly, probably some twenty kilos down on when I had my op last November. I’m now at a level with which I’m comfortable, so much so that my fear of having to buy new jeans because my current ones are too small has being replaced by fear of having to buy smaller ones! Not in any great hurry, mind. Anyway, losing another stone (in a switch to imperial!) would be nice, but we’ll see. The less weight I have to cart round Endcliffe Park in a couple of months’ time, the better!

On the whole, though, I’ve not felt the same urge to blog about my little runs. They’re becoming increasingly normal, even my 15k ones. OK, so I’ve only been on one of those since my previous post, but still… This, of course, is a good thing. It means that what used to be a spectacular achievement is now less so, that my standards of what is achievable are rising. Running 10k is no longer daunting. My next challenge, mind, is to up the pace a little. I’m fitter but not faster and I want to bridge that gap a little. I’m trying to do this on 5k runs first with a view to upgrading to 10k in due course, but I know it won’t be easy. I also know that all my runs, even the 5k ones, feature hills – which is great for building stamina but not necessarily so for improving speed, much as I am consciously trying to do that. Last but by no means least, I know that the 101010 route will be different to my practice ones: what I don’t know is how that will work for me. So predictions are hard. And pointless. All that matters, right now, is that I keep getting fitter and feeling better. Hopefully some speed gain will ensue.
If not – ah well. No worries.