End of Week 2

I've completed week 2 and as the picture above illustrates, it's been a wet and windy one.  Deciding when to run has become a bit of an art, hovering by the window trying to predict how long until the next grey cloud of doom will arrive and unleash its misery upon those of us trying to train below.  My shell jacket and trendy cap have been invaluable, as have a pair of thin gloves which I've worn a few times to combat the wind chill.

New hat!

Like my trendy hat? Ok, maybe trendy isn't the word. About 95% of hats look ridiculous on me so I knew my new running hat wasn't going to look stylish. Embracing this notion I chose the loudest, most garish hat I could find, and voila! A hat with happy snails all over it. If nothing else, I guess it will make me more visible to drivers.

I bought the hat because last time I went running in the rain I couldn't see the road I was running on through the droplets on my glasses. The snail hat has been a 100% success as my run in the rain today has been visible from start to finish. Not a drop on my glasses.

So far it's a pretty rubbish week to return to running with renewed vigour. "Storm Ali" has made running challenging as gale force winds and ceaseless rain bombard Scotland.  I've been waiting for it to ease off, which is why it's Thursday and I just completed the first run of the week.  It's not advisable to run on consecutive days but I'm going to have to to keep on track.  Let's hope the weather brightens up over the weekend.

Looks like I'm actually going through with it...

So...this happened.
Yes, I've actually committed to running the Derby 10K. I've registered, chosen my shirt size, and speculated that I'll make it round the track in under 60 minutes. My fiance has entered too to offer moral support :)

My predicted time is a complete guess of course.  I'd like to think I could run 10K in under an hour, but progress lately has been lacking. Who would have thought that motivating oneself to run when tired, raining, or when pretty much anything else is preferable, would be so hard?

The countdown on the race website reassures me that there are 202 days until race day. That said, on the 5th April this year I embarked on a 12 week training programme that meant I should have run my first 10k distance at the end of June. It's now mid-September and I'm still lingering around week 3.  Yes, I quite agree, that is useless. It seems to reveal that I'm having difficulty getting into the habit of regular running exercise. Forming a new habit is hard. Some say it takes 21 days, but this article seems to dismiss that as a myth. Try more like 2 months, minimum.