1st January 2021. It seems like an awfully long time ago. Much has happened, and equally much has not happened. I remember distinctly where I was on January 1st – standing in my kitchen, washing up and listening to Beauty Pill’s amazing album Beauty Pill Describes Things As They Are. I resolved, there and then, to listen to a different album a day during January, in part as a way of broadening my horizons and in part to have a project. I am keen on a project, as demonstrated by 2020’s recreation of various popular hits on some of my mini synth collection.

It’s been, I think we can all agree, somewhat of an odd year. I thought I’d round it out with some things that bought me joy in 2020.

Second time’s a charm! I technically finished the Sofa To So Far plan that Jimmy wrote for me a couple of weeks ago. This is after about a month off in the middle with injury and camping holidays. Thing is, I didn’t really finish it. We were away and I was running unfamiliar routes in “wild country”, plus my route tracker dropped about one and a half kilometres of the track. Very unsatisfying.

Well. What a weekend. I wasn’t expecting much, ‘cause of the crap mood I’ve been in since getting angry with the government announcing new COVID restrictions in my area. Properly bummed out and unmotivated.

Final run of week one - it was optional, so I didn’t feel too bad having a 5 minute sit down in the middle! Felt really good for the first 5 or mins, like I was in a real flow. I think the fluency and stamina will come as I run more (and the weight comes off). I again justified the periods of walking by ensuring I keep enjoying running.