Please forgive me – It’s been a long time since I last walked (seriously).
Not that I’ve walked frivolously, it’s just that I haven’t walk much at all.
As usual, the year starts full of good intentions with plans for the usual Coventry Way (ACW) and another stab at the Rotary Across Wales Walk (RAWW).
I’ll put it down to a lack of motivation but I just couldn’t (or didn’t want to) get into any training regime.
I managed a few miles but nothing like that of recent years. I only managed to clock up a measly hundred miles in January and it was all downhill from there.
Obviously, I was walking the dogs but most of the time I forgot to record the mileage so that half way through May my total for the year stands at just shy of three hundred miles.
I did have a confirmed place for the Coventry Way in April but a lack of training meant that I had to decline (at least I cancelled in time so someone more deserving got the place).
The RAWW, due in about a month’s time was never going to happen.
Now, over the past couple of weeks or so, I’ve been getting ads. on facebook for the Birmingham Black Country Half Marathon (BBCHM). As the name would suggest, this is an event of thirteen miles (and a bit) involving Birmingham and the Black Country. More precisely, it’s a run of 13.1 miles between Wolverhampton and Birmingham.
I did take part in this last year (2022) finishing in just under three hours.
It’s not the cheapest of events but the support is good and it has a good vibe.
To kick start my return to exercise, I have, this morning, signed up for this year’s event which will take place on Saturday 1st July.
That gives me around seven weeks to train to at least a level where I can finish the canal side saunter.
This may be incentive that I need to get back to some form of exercise.
Because of my general lack of exercise, my body is starting to let me know why exercise is needed.
I have put on weight – I haven’t plucked up the courage to step on the scales yet but I can tell by the tightness of my clothes.
My various parts hurt more than they should – My arthritic knee hurts, I get a lot more cramps in my legs and I have an almost constant ache in my upper arm / shoulder.
Obviously, age probably plays a part which is even more reason to do something about it.
I plan on walking most days combining dog walks, treadmill walks and a few ‘serious’ longer outings. With a bit of luck, I’ll may even get motivated enough to return to the Saturday morning parkruns.
