My walk of shame

This post is all about my fitness level. I hope it’s not just a New Year’s Resolution that will be forgotten next month. But I am planning to make some decision which I hope to keep. So, bear with me on that and/or help me if possible.

Generally, I’ve been good and managed to maintain a decent weekly number of visits to my gym during the last months. Apart from the time when I was away on holidays, I don’t think I’ve skipped gym for a whole week without going at least once or twice. The personal trainer I have is also good at kicking my ass almost every week. Sometimes of course is harder than others, but I assume that’s to be expected.

Last week was exceptionally nice. The gym was almost empty. Once, there were 4 people overall in the whole area, including me. I like it like that, when it’s empty and mostly quiet. I can enjoy working out without distractions. I even took a photo of the empty locker rooms. Before you ask, no, it’s not something I’ve done before and no, I don’t plan on making a habit out of it. :-)

I know that the state of the empty gym will not last. The hordes of the January new members on their own New Year’s Resolutions will be arriving soon. It’s unavoidable. We just have to be patient and wait for it to pass:

The reason however of the title of my post is my lack of running and doing long sessions of cardio exercise. I know how important running is to maintain my weight and waist line in a fairly good condition. I’ve mentioned my weight increase over the last weeks, that is not making me very happy and it’s not just the holiday food. I’ve gotten heavier and I need to do something about it.

I’m not a great fan of indoor treadmill running in the gym. I find it a bit tedious. I so much prefer running outdoors and I used to do it so often. When I first met JJ I was fitter, lighter and I could do long runs without any problem, like that first half marathon I did in Bath back then. I used to log all my outdoor runs and from what you can see things haven’t been going that well recently:

 2009

 2010

 2011

2012

Even if I might have missed and not logged a couple of runs over these last years, I don’t think it’s not obvious the decline of mileage over the months. Even during the good months, I didn't run that much, but still combined with gym, it was OK. I could come up with many reasons I haven’t been running, like heavy work schedule, my personal life or the bad weather but it’s no right. They’re only silly unforgivable excuses. It’s a personal defeat I will not easily accept, at least not without a fight.

So, even if these graphs are so embarrassing, I’m presenting them to you. I need you as witnesses that I plan on getting out again writing miles. According to my blog the last time I posted anything tagged in the ‘running’ category was October 2011! I hope this will change (and soon). Can you nag me in the near future if I don’t mention anything relevant at some time soon?