Happy New Year everyone! I can understand why a lot of people are happy to see the end of 2020, but it makes me sad the number of people saying they want to forget it completely.
In terms of running headlines, I had a bit of a shocker of the year. My main goal for the year was sub-25 5k. Right now, unless I’m feeling great and really pushing myself, I’d struggle to get sub-30. But that doesn’t mean I should write it off completely, because…
I ran 5k every Saturday in 2020
At the point parkrun stopped at the end of March (and this whole post focuses on that point onwards), I hadn’t missed an event in the year. Which was pretty good going given the weather issues we’d had. And I decided to keep that anchor in my week.
My route changed a few weeks in when the paths got too busy, and as a loop around roads it isn’t the most exciting, but it works. There’s something nice about it not being a decision. On Saturdays I get up, hydrate, have a small bit to eat, and then go run my loop. Nothing to think about. And yes, present tense, because 2020 ending doesn’t mean my streak has stopped.
Some weeks, particularly early on, I sped round the loop. Others were more gentle. Which brings me onto…
I got better at listening to my body
Like a lot of people, I experienced quite high stress levels last year. This was pretty draining, and meant that sometimes running hard would have been counter-productive. So I gave myself a little more slack in not pushing myself too far.
I also started taking my hormones into account more. I started tracking my cycle in 2019 (on an app called Clue if you’re interested), but while I knew certain days were better for running than others I never did anything about it. In 2020 I started looking at when my next cycle was due, and planning to take runs super gently if they coincided with the start.
And for some Saturdays, that meant run/walking. Because feeling good at the start of the weekend is more important than getting round a few seconds faster. And, also, being prepared to run/walk meant…
I still ran with my family
Although we didn’t manage it as often as we’d have liked, Lani and I managed to go for a few runs together after school. Sometimes we planned a route in advance, sometimes we just made a decision at every turn. Sometimes we walked about as much as we ran, sometimes we practised our ‘super strong running’, and sometimes we had truly playful fartleks.
One Saturday in December I woke up feeling particularly shocking, and knew I was going to need a very gentle run/walk. I asked Lani if she’d like to head out with me. Suddenly a very demoralising slog turned into an adventure. I’d run that route around 30 times in the year, but to her it was exciting and new. We chatted, we laughed, and had a great start to our weekend.
I also managed a few buggy runs, whether after morning drop-off on my day off, or when doing nursery pick up in the evening. Buggy running is something that makes me feel strong and confident, so I’d like to do it more.
And one of my last runs in the year was one of my favourites. In wisdom and understanding beyond her years, Lani had declared back in July that “if things are still like this at Christmas then we can still go for a family run in the morning”. So, on the first Christmas Day of her life that didn’t revolve around Longrun Meadow parkrun, we did just that. The 4 of us ran to Longrun Meadow, did one short lap through the icy puddles, and then ran home.
It was heaven.
