November 2016

A great month of running - Logged 401km 😀

November has come to an end and winter is upon us, which mean freezing temperatures, slippery roads and more or less permanent forehead markings from the head-torch...

For me it's been a great month of running. I've logged 401km according to Endomondo, which is near the monthly distance as of when I trained for Race To The Stones (100km) earlier this year. I'm pleased to yet again having reached this level. 😀

I love this time of year. When I go for my early morning runs (wake up at 5:30am), it is still dark and quiet outside. Only a few souls are up at this early hour - mostly for work it seems. And when leaving the city centre of Oxford to run along the river, I pretty much got it all to myself. Engulfed in the cold darkness I can almost only hear my own breathing and my foot steps. 

Then, somewhere along the route, the sun starts rising very slowly and the world around me slowly becomes more and more visible in the dim light from the sun still hiding behind the horizon...
A special time of day indeed 😊

I've been to a few evening sessions with Headington Road Runners - a running club in Oxford not far from where I live. So far I've been to a couple of Thursday sessions, which is the main weekly session 'suitable for all abilities'. Although I as good as always have been running by myself, except for races, it was fun to be running with equal-minded. It was also great to be running in places I've never been before - different to where I usually run. 
I've also been attending a Saturday cross-country session in South Park. A great but tough session - loved it 😎

During my own training runs I've been on a few long ones in November. On one of them, I followed the Oxford Canal out of Oxford, turned around at some point and the same way back. A decent run of some 42km - or a Marathon if you like 😃 On this run I found some great street-art under a bridge over the Oxford Canal 😃
#OxfordsHiddenGems

Another run was about 35km following the River Thames upstream from Oxford, round the back side of Farmoor Reservoir, and over Boars Hill back to Oxford. A great run which claimed its prize in terms of blood. I thought I'd found the right path (via my pre-loaded bread-crumb-trail on the Suunto Spartan Ultra) but I found myself running through knee-high nettles and thorn-bushes for some hundred metres before actually finding the path I was supposed to be on. However, a lovely run nevertheless. 😄

All in all, a great month of running 😉

#YouVsTheYear #RunWithFight #IWILL

See ya out there...

Best M.