Well, here we are.  The end of January.  Already.  How did that happen?  Time flies when you’re having fun I guess!

So in my last post I was having a totally manic sugar crash, and would have eaten a mangy dog if it was dusted in sugar.  Unfortunately I lost the ‘no sugar’ battle and succumbed, though not by licking a sugar-coated dog, I hasten to add.  Anyway, I’m not beating myself up about it (too much).  I’ve enjoyed the ‘detox’ plan that I was following (well, still following until Sunday).  I put detox in inverted commas because only the first 5 days felt like a detox, the rest of the month has been about eating lots of good, fresh proteins and vegetables, getting to bed early (10pm at the latest) for a good night’s sleep, drinking water and just trying to make better food choices.  Essentially though, I think for me, trying to sort out my sugar issues at the same time as trying to get everything else right just didn’t work. Or rather I couldn’t hack it.

It isn’t all doom and gloom though.  I’ve lost a few centimetres from my waist, 2.7kg in weight, and I’m pretty happy with the way my running is going too.  I’d set myself a monthly challenge at the start of the year, and January’s challenge was to run 4 times a week.  Did I do it? Weeeeeeeell, not quite.  I’ve run 3 times a week, so technically a fail, but that’s okay.  I was struggling with energy for the first half of the month, so quite frankly I was chuffed to be getting 75% of the runs in.  I ran a local 10K on the 19th, and beat my Christmas 10K time by 23s, on a slightly more undulating course, so I take that as a win.  I ran 10 miles last Saturday – my longest run since July – and enjoyed it.  I ran 5 miles on Wednesday and really enjoyed it.  This week I’ve also managed to increase my dead lift PB from 62.5kg (which I’ve struggled to increase for ages), to 70kg, after feeling really comfortable doing multiple reps at 50kg, 60kg and 65kg, so I’m VERY happy with that.

All in all, this month has taught me that I can make improvements to my diet and wellbeing, and recognise what effect these improvements have, but trying to do too many things at once doesn’t work for me.  I’ve also learned that it is okay to ‘fail’ and to learn from these situations and use it to do better next time.  Finally, I’ve realised that when you run 10 miles, the thought of running 26.2 feels like an impossibility, but I also know that if I just stick to the plan and keep plugging away, i’ll reach my goal in the end.

So what’s next?  February’s challenge is ‘No iPad after 9pm’, but I’m going to change it – no iPad (or computer or titting about on my phone) after 8pm.  I totally exceeded my broadband limit this month (I’ve no idea how, but before anyone asks, no, i’ve not been downloading porn.  Honest), so I think this challenge is well-timed!!

Next weekend I’m running another 10K race, then I’ve got a half marathon on the 23rd February, and in between those races I’m taking a trip back to Bonnie Scotland to see my pals.  Can’t wait.  Bring on Feb!

Have a great weekend folks 🙂