Running total : 1

It's REALLY wet outside - low clouds and the kind of dense drizzle that I know is going to have me soaked through in seconds. But go out in it I must... I have challenges to meet, routines to maintain!

I've been running for a while now, and I'm not very good, but I've been bitten (quite literally as it happens, but that's another story). I have started echoing my husband's cry, as we drive past people out for a jog, of "I should be doing that!". I'm at the stage where I feel like going for a run almost as soon as I finish the last one. Yummy endorphins!

So I thought I should begin my running story in this blog by capturing how far I have run this year so far! I can't be very accurate, but I can get a fair approximation becasue I have *tended* to stick to known distances. I'm definitely trying to notch up the miles - both to show myself I can run further in any one go and improve my overall stamina, and also to get me out and active more often. So I have invested in both a Garmin Forerunner 405 (GPS-calibrated) and a Nike+ sportband (pace-calibrated). Distance is not my only metric. Nike+ online allows me to keep track and set goals around frequency of runs, speed (pace) and distance.

I've signed up to three challenges to help motivate me.

1) Parkrun Crispy's Challenge: Get my PB over 5km down to 27 minutes by end of May 2010
2) Parkrun nike+ challenge: One of a team of 3 representing Basingstoke Parkrun to try and notch up as many miles run as possible between September 26th to October 24th. Each Parkrun team is competing against the 20+ other Parkruns. I'm not usually a distance runner by any means, but this sure is dragging me out of the house!!
3) The Grim 8 Challenge in December 2009. Oh my goodness, yes! I have crazily signed up to run 8 miles through water, mud and ice. And I can't even run 8 miles yet!

Well, I say I can't... I probably can. I just haven't!

But just how far have I run this year? I'm no Forrest Gump, but let me see....

• 4 x 10km races = 40km
• 17 x 5km Parkrun = 85km
• 1 x 5.5 mile race = 8.3km
• 57.4km logged on Nike+ = 57.4km
• Less 2 x parkruns logged on Nike+ = -10km
• Plus two runs of 9 and 11 km in training = 20km
• Plus about 4 runs of 8 to 9 km in training = 34km
• Plus about 3 training runs of about 5km = 15km

GIves a running total in 2009 of 249.7km - let's say 250km. Not bad for a n00b. Today is day 293 of the year (I went here to find out), so that's a running average of 0.853 km per day. I MUST be able to drive up THAT average!

Rain still hasn't died down. Harrumph, oh well, off I go for some more!