Keeping with the running theme from November's treadmill challenge, this month I decided to do an advent running challenge with a bit of a gambling twist. So every weekday I rolled a dice and ran the number of km that I rolled, and at the weekend I rolled two dice.
Knowing that the maximum I could roll during the week was a six, I decided to do my weekday runs at lunchtime. Fewer daylight hours in December meant it was a great way to get some fresh air in the middle of the day (even if it did mean dodging tourists along the busy Southbank). Then at the weekend I explored routes closer to home, sometimes with friends (who were only too willing roll the dice and gamble on my behalf!)
When the 1st and 2nd December fell on a weekend and I rolled a NINE on BOTH days, I started to wonder whether this whole running thing was a good idea. While I've been running (inconsistently) once or twice a week for the last few months, I haven't run every day for years so I knew I needed to be careful about injuries. To ease in, I decided to walk a km at the beginning and end of each run at first, and up my yoga and foam rolling (aka self-myofascial release/massage/torture) to help muscle recovery.
24 days and 117 km later I'm still standing! And while I'm looking forward to getting back on my bike over Christmas and the New Year to start my Pyrenees training, I'm keen to keep up the lunchtime running when I start my new job in January, just leaving the dice behind (-:
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| Albert Bridge by Battersea Park |
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| Battersea Park |
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| Along the Thames between Albert and Chelsea Bridge (Battersea Power Station on right) |
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| Waterloo Bridge |
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| Tower Bridge |
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| Millennium Bridge and St Paul's Cathedral |
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| Dodging puddles from Kew Bridge to Richmond |
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| Riverside run along Wandsworth Park from Fulham to Putney with Kat |
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| London Bridge and the Shard |
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| Tooting Bec Common |
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| Bedgebury Forest, in Kent |
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| Cranbrook, Kent |
