First week back on the road

They say it takes two weeks to form a habit.  I wonder if it takes the same amount of time to get back into a previously formed habit? And why is it that bad habits seem to need less time to form than good habits do?  It took me months to get into the habit of going for a run every day after work.  But it only took two or three days to get used to putting on a tracksuit instead of running gear and sitting in front of the TV after work.  One of the perks of being a teacher is that I now have three weeks off to figure all this out! Five days down and I've realised that while it also takes months of hard work to reach a certain level of fitness, it only takes two months worth of couch time, TV, red wine and chocolate, to end up exactly where you started!

I began the week on Monday feeling optimistic and excited to get back out on the road.  I drove down to my running club's time trial route (a great, flat 4 km route that we usually run twice on a Thursday evening at TT) equipped with Ipod and Garmin watch.  I started out feeling good and I was surprised to find that I was really enjoying it! This was going better than expected! Of course the entire run didn't go quite as  well.  I ran out of breath and slowed down...a lot! Before my break from running I was able to complete the 4 km in roughly 18 minutes (not a phenomenal time, but I was working on improving it!) and the double lapper in  38 minutes.  For obvious reasons I opted to skip the second lap on Monday morning and finished my first 4 km back on the road in an embarrassing 19:59!  Despite this, I still felt good after the short, slow run.  So good in fact that I rewarded myself by baking a chocolate cake!

Tuesday I set out again, this time braving a slightly more hilly route.  I ran 5 km and by the time I was finished I looked and felt worse than I did after I ran my first marathon!  But I remember all too well the cliche 'no pain, no gain.' So I was back on the road again on Wednesday! I started out in the gym on Wednesday morning (trying not to neglect the cross training) and finished off the morning with a 7 km run on the road.  Thursday - Time Trial day.  I belong to a great little club that gather in a field on a Thursday evening to socialise, have a few drinks, and of course run. It's been a long time since I've been to TT but in the Winter months many runners tend to hibernate and I don't imagine there has been a great turnout.  I fully intended to go and run a leisurely 4 km, but when my running partner canceled, my leftover chocolate cake started speaking to me and I suddenly couldn't face going alone! So I conveniently called Thursday my 'rest day'.  Friday - I finished off the week with a 6 km run, feeling better than I have all week.  I'm still running a lot slower than I used to and I still have to talk myself into my running shoes.  But give it another week and this running thing might become a habit once again!