Sunday 6 May 2012

Running to work tomorrow - start as you mean to go on

Tomorrow is my first day back at work after my 8 month sabbatical.  I feel like I have forgotten absolutely everything and I am hoping that that isn't really the case.  Hopefully once I am back in familiar surroundings everything will come back to me.  I can remember what Java is at least.

I am really glad I took the sabbatical as I am coming back full of energy and a good deal fitter and thinner than when I left.  I got the chance to do everything I wanted from seeing the gorillas in DR Congo to climbing Kilimanjaro to cycling across South America to completing the Marathon des Sables.  The only thing I didn't quite get was my top 50 place in the MDS.  That dream only lasted for the first 3 days, but I am no longer worried about it and I can always try for it again in 2015 by the seems of it, as some of the guys from this years MDS are talking about signing up for it again in 2015 and I would like to join them.  Anny doesn't seem to be against it either.

I am rather a creature of habit, and I want to start this week as I mean to go on.  Since I am now training for the Ticino Trail in August, I want to start running to work.  There is no better way to get myself into the habit of running to work than to run to work tomorrow, on my first day back.  I have already packed my running rucksack with all my work clothes and a wash kit, and placed it next to the bed.  All my running kit is also nicely laid out on the chair, so I really have no excuses.  Anny is off to New York early tomorrow morning so I will have to take Negrita to Central for 8.15am (where the dog care person picks her up from), and then I can run from there directly to work.

The other habit I want to form this week is to eat healthily during my lunch break at work.  I used to eat far too much, and mostly junk food before.  So I think I will start taking a healthy packed lunch with me to encourage myself to eat better.  Tomorrow though I will go with some of my colleagues to lunch in the canteen just to catch up a bit.

The final bad habit that I had was a ridiculously high caffeine intake. Every time I took a 5 minute break I grabbed a coffee and that ended up being quite a few cups of coffee per day.  Combine that with a lack of attention to my water intake and it was probably no wonder I often felt tired and run down.  I will try to just get a little fresh air during most of my breaks now, rather than having a coffee each and every time.  I will also try to make sure I drink enough water each day to stay well hydrated.

That is the plan anyway.  I will let you know how I get on with it as the week goes on.  Old habits die hard as they say.

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