Can 26 miles be easier than one?

I have to admit that I´ve been having trouble setting my goals for this year. To be honest it´s probably a reluctance on my part, due to failing to get to the Valencia Marathon in November. I know the reasons why I didn´t get there and I believe I´ve changed my attitude accordingly, but I still can´t quite decide where I want to take this running lark.

I´m not a runner who can just run for the sake of it. I do really enjoy it, but the best bits involve racing and running with others so my goals involve races and that´s that. It always seemed logical to just go on and on, distance wise, so the marathon seemed the next step up. As Valencia is on my doorstep I always thought that would be where I would get to eventually. However, I´m beginning to have second thoughts about what I want to achieve and reckon that on a scale of 1 to 10 laughs-wise, this would rate up there with the best of them.

It´s only a mile for gawd´s sake. Just one poxy mile. And it´s gotta be easier than 26, doesn´t it? I even had a look at the results from the last few years and I´ve just got to run a fast training pace to be up there with the leaders. I´m light as a feather as well so it should be a piece of piddle really.

I´m tempted anyway, but I still can´t make that final choice. I wish someone would just tell me what to do.

Beautiful Burgos

After a crap start to the year, running wise, I´m finally on 10 days of relaxation with the in-laws in Burgos, Northern Spain. To say it´s different to Alicante is like saying the sun is not the moon - the two are worlds apart. As I write this a blizzard is falling outside and hopes of us being stuck here forever begin to surface.

It´s in this context that I´ve started to run properly again. Not having to worry about work, or getting the kids into their routine has freed me up and I´ve been able to get out again. This time, I´ve been taking it easy as I am coming back from yet another over-training injury. I set myself a golden rule of no more than 40 minutes and that I would stop if I felt any twinges. I´ve also been religiously doing the exercises for the lower back shown to me by my physio and am starting to feel like Bruce Lee. It´s good to be back.

What has helped immensely is Burgos itself. It is truly a beautiful place to run. There is parkland galore near to my in-law´s house and coupled with the fresher weather and a spikier attitude, my running has been thoroughly enjoyable. You could do a lot worse than visit here.

It´s also got me believing in Maffetone again, which is no bad thing. I´ve always insisted when I´ve been injured that it´s only happened because I haven´t followed my own rules (or to put it another way, Maffetone´s). However, that doesn´t stop you getting down when things do go wrong and you start to doubt yourself. None of that now though, my running has gone superb and I´ve gone from a 9:58 mile at a HR of 135 two days ago to a 9:13 mile today. It´s all to do with keeping within your limits, eating properly and knowing your body. Now I just have to keep it up.

As for going Ketonic, I´m going to delete that blog and bring it on in here. I cannot stress enough how much of a difference I notice in my well-being when I eat properly. I feel great, to be quite frank. It´s been hard to keep to the diet, especially when you´re a guest in someone else´s house but I´ve managed to take charge a bit and I´m on track. My in-laws look particularly impressed with my Chicken Broth so maybe I´m managing to spread a little happiness as well. Not that I give one really.

Back to basics

I´m going back to basics this week. I´m on holiday in Northern Spain so have a new environment to run in, which is perfect for coming back after injury. I´ve already been out three times this week for sessions going no longer than 40 minutes, including my warm-up and cool down (working on Maffetone principles). This is a good habit to get into because my very busy life means I should be able to fit these into my weekly schedule without too much difficulty. I´ll also look to keeping my LSR to 1 hour max and build up very slowly from there.

Lots of rain, refreshing breezes and no twinges. Just like being a teenager in Wales again.