Janathon: Been and Gone!

This morning I realised how close I was to achieving 150 miles this month! Well, there was absolutely no chance I was going to let that one slip by... how annoying would it be to hit 148 or something similarly ridiculous?... I mean, seriously I'm the sort of person who runs straight past her house because the garmin is reading 9.96 miles! Oh, there's a squirrel.

So, with Doris tied tightly to her pretty, pink lead, we set off for a 2 mile just-to-make-sure jaunt around the block. The jog served as a nice warm up for club later on, and once we hit the park Doris, freed from her lead, enjoyed skipping around as free as a bird, the wind flying through her fur. With my legs now relieved from the aches and pains of the day, I re-fuelled myself with some peanut butter on toast (Mmmmmmm) ready for the evening club run. Which was a good job, as I had a text message waiting for me on my return from Pete, our coach, it read: 'Maggie, get your thinking cap on, you're choosing the session tonight!'
What?
 Me?
Yep! Me.

Pete had commented on my blog yesterday that he had a surprise in store, and it seemed this was it. Some people may describe this as a shock, rather than a surprise - especially considering the short, hour time frame he had delievered on this task - however, in comparison to the evil hill scenarios that had been running through my head overnight, this was a very nice surprise!

Needless to say, of course, I rose to the challenge and an hour later, I was at club setting the session for us all. It was really good fun actually and I certainly didn't make it easy on myself although in hindsight I really should have done! I love fartlek (speedplay) probably more to do with the word 'fart' in the name than anything else - it really does appeal to the huge childish side of my brain - so chose this as the premise for the session.

Beginning with a mile warm up, I looked out for numbers along the way that I could use to build the session. Using the speed of the road we were on (40) and the speed of a side road we passed (20), I set the first set of our intervals as 40 seconds fast with 20 second recovery between, until we reached a set point. This was successful and I promtly followed it up with the price of petrol: 125.99 pence (seriously... how much?!) using the 120 as two minutes at 70% effort, repeated 5 times with a 30 second jog recovery between each effort (conveniently ignoring the 99 pence). Following this, we jogged for about 1/2 mile, before racing hard to the end of the road, recovering again until we reached the bottom of a hill; naturally this gave the perfect opportunity for a final sprint to the top!  A jog back to the track took the night's running to a total of 4.86 miles. Good running I think! Well done me! :-)

As it turns out, I am the first of many guest coaches to come, as Pete is intending to choose a different member of the group on the last run of each month to create, and run, the sesion. His choice in me this month, was in recognition of my running everyday in January, marking my final run. And, as with any project, when it comes to an end, a review and evaluation is required. So, in true teacher style, here is my Personal Janathon Review:

What have you learnt?

1. That I am capable of running for 31 days on the trot, even though I thought I wasn't, which brings me to my next learning point...

2. PRB - I have learnt to be positive!!

What did you enjoy?

1. Feeling fitter, stronger and discovering I can communicate with dead squirrels.
2. Writing my blogs.
3. Reading your blogs.

What was your greatest success?

1. Running over 150 miles in one month!
2. Running every day, and logging and blogging it in the same day, every day!
2. Reaching the top 15 of the leaderboard! (I may not still be there (I daren't look!), but just hitting if for a while was great! If this was football, I'd have been in the Premiership - Unbelievable Jeff!)

Is there anything you'd do differently next time?

1. Next time, I'll start Janathon with PRB!

What are your targets for the future?

1. Stick to my Magathon Marathon Training.
2. Keep up my training blog.
3. Complete the Virgin London Marathon on 17th April 2011 with my friend Paula.
4. Continue to employ PRB so I enjoy my training.
5. Achieve at least one PB on a previously run distance this year.

So, thank you Janathoners for all the blogs, poems and stories of joy, woe and fun, for your support, advice and camaraderie on all things running, fitness and life. For those of you training for other events, good luck and keep blogging, and for those of you taking a well-earned rest, see you in June! And thank you Cathy for creating Janathon, as without it I wouldn't have found, and had the opportunity to be a part of, such a great online running community...

Was the squirrel relevant?
I don't know... hang on... was the squirrel relevant?
No?
No, the squirrel wasn't relevant... ignore the squirrel.

Distance: 2.26 miles + 4.81 miles fartlek at club = 7.07
Weather: cold and clear
Feeling: achey but good
See my run here.

Total Janathon Miles: 151.60 miles!