Back at it - more slowly

Okay, so it's been a while since that last update. I haven't stopped running, I just had a bit of a slow down. As soon as I hit that 110+km mark I got knocked over by a nasty summer cold and I took a while to rebuild. But I learned something. Apparently if you increase your running distance you quickly you can drain your bodies resources and defences and become prone to getting sick. So there you go. Lesson learned. Nonetheless I did get back at it within a couple of weeks and have now got over 250km under my belt, I just limited myself to the 5 or 6 km mark in one run rather than aiming for 8 or 10. The thing is, it's weird how now 5 or 6km still feels like quite an effort and on some days I can't even get that far. But I'm told that's the mystery of running. Some days you can go for miles and other days the old body just doesn't want to go there. And it's next to impossible to figure out what factors into it: sleep? stress? what you ate? Dunno. But a small bowl of oatmeal and honey now seems to be my best friend before a run. And it does seem to matter if I'm running "in nature" or in the city, but unfortunately my access to nature has been severely limited in the past few weeks. However running in the city has it's perks. I've been able to cheer on strikers, say hi to the old folks walking the Cranberry Path, re-direct lost teenagers, chat with posties about how far I run and how far they walk, and generally find out what's up in town. So despite the concrete and what it may be doing to my knees, the city running really isn't so bad, I just miss the park. And with fall upon us and winter soon to come I'd better take advantage of the park while I have the chance, so let's hope October brings new opportunties for some running through the leaves....