After running 218km in May at the start of June I’d run 718km in the year so far. I was aiming to do 300km in June. A bold target after being badly injured a couple of months back, but something that might give me a focus and then some doing rhythm throughout the month.

Spoiler: I managed 257km. Not 300km, but still a daily average of 8.6km a day. I think I had just five days off too. Doing 10km a day felt a little too beyond my legs but also my schedule. I am not disappointed. It was a fun month of running, my injured leg is still working well again and 257km is the most distance I’ve run in a month. I am now up to 975km ran this year.

The first half of the month still featured a lot of lapping the school sport pitches which dominated April and May’s running. I went for the occasional session down to the canal, get some road and trails in rather than the grass. The monotony of the loops was fine most days and with Everything Else, the solitude of the pitches was comforting. But as the month went on I started to get away from the fields laps for some explorations.

A Saturday morning head out towards Baildon Moor was a tough uphiller to the moor, but then a bit easier back home as it was downhill. And I learned Tong Park isn’t in Tong on the other side of Bradford, it’s near Baildon.

In the middle of the month I headed out through Thackley to explore the trails by Windhill play area before heading over to Esholt. Yesterday, the last day of June, I went out to the play area again for another explore, went on some different trails and did a handy 6km loop.

On fathers’ day I took a morning jaunt up to Rombald’s Moor and got a little lost on the way back (and managing to have an ice cream) made for a fun 24km session.

An end of week explore of the trails on the south side of the canal towards Calverley, against a glorious end of day sky. I just happened to see the trail on an online map and when the chance came to go have a look, I did.

After reaching 250km for the month on the 28th I decided to have a day off from running. The back of my legs felt a little too tight. I could have ploughed on, done two more 10km days, but I listened to my body. I felt a lot fresher for my last run of the month. I hope it sets June up well.

I’m just 24km away from sneaking past 1000km for the year. The 2000km target for the year seems doable now.

Oh, and the dog reminded me she’s not that keen on this running lark. I had one aborted run with her. Dogs.

I have just tried to enjoy it all in June, thankful I can get out, thankful I can run again, especially after the injury. I’ve not worried about pace or times. Just get out and experience whatever happens.

What’s for July? Aim for 300km again. Who knows. It might happen.

Reads

Good to Go. Basically, sleep is good for you, but definitely worth a read or listen (there’s an audiobook of it).

To Run My Best Marathon at Age 44, I Had to Outrun My Past, a brilliant piece by Nicholas Thompson over on Wired.


This post tagged with:
running, run notes, run notes 2020, month note