I'm over the disappointment of the weekend. Thanks for your comments, as always. As I said, I was taking it as a kick up the bottom and it's already shown, I think. I went out for a second run with my running buddy this morning. We went before work, which is a bit more like it. My buddy loved it: we went at a similar pace, but she found the going a lot easier. I noticed this feeling a bit better too. I'd like to get out again on my own this week - looks like tomorrow morning before work is my best opportunity.

I'm pleased that I'm getting some decent mileage on the scoreboard. It's only 24km this month so far, but it's 24km more than last month and a good basis for getting back up to 50km plus in the next month or two.

I'm trying to find cross-training opportunities. I really got a lot of benefit from cycling, and I'm looking to start this first. I go on holiday to Denmark on Friday, and I'm hoping we can get out on the bikes at some point. When I get back, I'll be cycling to work and trying to get a 25km ride in at least once a fortnight.

I've agreed with a friend to try badminton when I get back from Denmark. Neither of us have played it since school days, although we both enjoyed it. I can't remember the rules or the scoring, but it'll be fun and can't hurt with the fitness.

My last six 5K time trial results, before today:

28 Jun 08 . 00:28:15
14 Jun 08 . 00:27:34
24 May 08 . 00:26:30
03 May 08 . 00:28:41
19 Apr 08 . 00:27:22
12 Apr 08 . 00:26:55

And today:

16 Aug 08 . 00:30:58

I knew that, after being so positive during the week, the reliable performance barometer that is the HPTT would probably tell a different story. On today's performance, I'm back to where I was at the end of February.

My next HPTT is on 6th September and I'm hoping to do a lot better by then. I ended up walking parts of the last kilometre today which I almost never do, so if I can at least avoid that then I should be good to get back under 30 minutes again.

It's hard not to treat this as a some kind of failure, but I'm taking it as a kick up the arse.

There was no repeat of the thunderstorms yesterday so me and my running buddy went out for our first run together, covering 5K. It was as far as she'd run before, and it made for what seemed like an easier run for me. It rained pleasantly throughout - contrary to the impression I might have given in early blogs, I do quite like running in the rain (assuming it's not too cold).

As an easy run, all it served to do was to whet my appetite for something a bit more strenuous. Tonight I went out for another run, at a quicker pace. It didn't feel comfortable. After a break from running, perhaps I was just being a bit keen to go running on consecutive days so soon. I could quite get my mind in the right place either, and I really should have gone a bit further. Thing is, I'm back at the just-get-out-and-run stage, so I shouldn't worry about these things so much. I'm just glad I'm getting out again.

Well, as promised (to myself, if no-one else), I got my fat ass in gear on Sunday and went running for the first time in a while. I didn't go out for too long, but I got myself out and I was reasonably satisfied with how much fitness I'd managed to retain over my time off.

My time off from running consisted of consecutive weeks living away from home for work reasons, which is a bit of a nightmare when it comes to my running/weight objectives. It consists of eating too much - and eating the wrong sort of food - in hotels and restaurants, and getting much less exercise in than normal. During my two weeks away in India this was especially true. The food and drink there was absolutely top notch for the duration of my time there, and ridiculously cheap too - a seven course Italian buffet with a draught beer that we had one night came in at about seventeen quid. As far as exercise goes, it's pretty hard - you're either at the hotel, at the office, or in a car in between the two... not much walking.

The result of my time off isn't anywhere near as bad as feared. I'd lost about a stone since January's start of festivities, and while I've not been running I've only put a couple of pounds on. I'm still comfortably under 17 (yes, seventeen) stone which has to be positive (I started at 17 and a half). In my little 4K run on Sunday, I found it hard but not quite as hard as I feared. A positive, yet petite, return.

I've decided to start publishing entries on my Fetcheveryone blog here too. Fetch is an running community website, and so my blog entries there focus on running and how my training is progressing. That said, there's usually a lot of other stuff in there too. I hope you find it interesting... certainly more than the complete lack of updates that you'd find here otherwise.