The Dragon Runner

February Recap

2 Mar 2019

The month started sensationally with a surprisingly fast run of 34:47 at Rhodes parkrun. Having started with the 40 minute pacer I was suprised to see a pace well under 40 minutes in the first 2km. Feeling comfortable I pushed on and began to catch & pass other runners in the second half before finishing in my fastest 5km time since 2017. This really spurred my enthusiasm & I found the 'running bug' biting hard.

This attitute was further enhanced at the Australian premiere of the inspirational documentary "Skid Row Marathon" on the same day that I organised to return to training with coach Jimmy Owens & the JORG Up & Running program.

Throughout this time I continued to follow my ketogenic diet, and although my weight loss was slower than when I started I was still losing about a half kilogram per week. I began to notice improvements in my general well-being, health & fitness. I am now beginning to buy new clothes in smaller sizes as my waistline reduces.

My son & I continued to experiment with our cooking, and we had some great successes. This month has seen a range of delicious dishes including lasagne, pizza, burgers, enchiladas, roasts, cheesecake & even home made bread - all prepared as low-carb versions that work with the ketogenic diet.

By the middle of the month I began to struggle with my training, with a general feeling of over-training beginning to emerge. My seemingly recovered rolled ankle from 28 January was again sore, swollen & very stiff; while the arthritis in my knees flared up as well.

During the month I worked with Rick Patzold to rough out a plan for our parkruns over the next couple of months, targeting a joint 100th parkrun celebration at Shellharbour on 11 May. I am continuing to focus on parkrun tourism with plans to visit Kamay, The Beaches, Centennial Park & Cronulla in the run to 100 parkruns.

My running has become easier as my fitness improves & my weight falls. The recent hill training sessions have been run at a similar pace to my December parkruns which is quite exciting. I am now seriously thinking about the plan to return to half marathons & longer events in the near future.

#reset #refocus #rebuild #health #fitness #wellness #beactive #challengeyourself #pushlimits #becomebetter #dowhatittakes #nevergiveup #metime #newlife #fitter #faster #stronger #jorg #upandrunning

February parkruns

Date	Event	Time	Temp & Elevation	Weight
February 2	Rhodes parkrun	34m 47s	22c ~ 6.8m	104.7kg
February 9	Chipping Norton parkrun	35m 25s	22c ~ 13.1m	103.3kg
February 16	Shellharbour parkrun	40m 49s	22c ~ 58.8m	102.7kg
February 23	Goulburn parkrun	34m 59s	14c ~ 11.6m	102.4kg

February Statistics

Running: 54.6km	Walking: 10.7km	Cycling: 0.0km	Steps: 252,814	Weight: 2.6kg loss
YTD: 97.2km	YTD: 45.1km	YTD: 5.7km	YTD: 504,023	YTD: 10.5kg loss