A Year In Running

Well okay not quite a year in running; this is more of a review of 2012.

According to my Endomondo profile I went for my first run on 24 May 2012 when I ran 1 mile in 10 minutes 3 seconds. Since then I've ran a further 715 miles in 2012.

I entered four races in 2012, three 10k's and one 10 mile:

Great Yorkshire Run:



 City of Salford 10k:



Rochdale Kingsway 10k:



Stockport 10:



I've also completed 25 parkruns, 23 of which have been "home" runs at Alexandra Park in Oldham, one at York and one at South Manchester (Platt Fields). My first parkrun at Oldham back in June was timed at 25:04, my course pb is now 20:22 not quite five minutes off in six months! My overall 5k pb is now 19:46, set at York parkrun.



So that is over five minutes off my first time.

I've climbed 6,859 meters of elevation, or 22,503 feet which sounds much more impressive. That's nearly the height of Mt.Everest.

As many people know I did the three 10k races in September to raise money for Leukemia & Lymphoma Research. Including Gift Aid I managed to raise £443.75 thanks to a number of kind donations. 

Through running I've also made a number of new friends who have no problems talking about split times, average pace, interval sessions etc etc etc together with support and advice. They and many of my non-running friends should be thanked for putting up with me and my new way of life. (I was going to type hobby, but that would be so wrong!)

I can't end this post without touching on my weight: at the start of the year I weighed 14st 7l;bs and when I started running I was just over 12st. Today I'm a lean and healthy 10st 9lbs. Running has helped shift those pounds and keep them off. I've had to buy a whole new wardrobe though! To those that think I look ill now - this is a healthy weight I have a BMI of 21!

All in all 2012 hasn't been a bad year for running; I've gone from running a mile a couple of times a week to racing ten miles. Many people, including myself, would never have thought the mile would be possible let alone a ten mile race.

What does 2013 have in store? Well I feel that's for a another post!