A new decade has begun.

Goodbye 2009! Hello 2010!

2009 has come to a close and I must say it was a very enjoyable year having finished my first ultra marathon I look forward to 2010 being filled with ever greater challenges.

A new year has begun and today is usually the beginning of when we all start following all those new years resolution we set ourselves.
Mine are along the following lines below

• Be a better father
• Be a better husband
• Learn more about the world we live in
  
• Set myself greater challenges
• Learn something new if possible everyday
  
• Have more fun
  

As this is a blog about primarily about running we shall continue to focus on this. At the moment I only have a couple of races booked for this year although I should have a much better idea of what events will be lined up for the next 6-12 months by the end of this month.

Training was going very well in December until the snow started to fall and I made a mistake of going too fast on on the trails during this time. Due to this my left calf has become quite tight over the last 2-3 weeks and it is not helping my running efficiency or technique.

I won't bore everyone with the exact details of the runs completed however here are the highlights

• 79 miles completed since 13th December
• Longest training week completed yet - 32 miles
• Fastest run - 5 miles 39:25
• Longest run - 12 miles 02:01:39

This weeks mileage has been pushed back to 20-22 miles due to muscle tightness in my calf and hopefully I should be able to enjoy the sunshine today and go for a short run.

One difference today is that I am going to be trying out my new Vibram Fivefingers minimalist shoe. Over the last 3-4 weeks I have become very much a habitual barefooter around the house and having read a lot of new information on the subject I am going to start incorporating some barefoot / minimalist shoe running into my training. Starting off with running in the Fivefingers today.

So it's times to get out there and enjoy and see you next time.

Peace!

Rich