I’ve never really been one for New Year’s resolutions. I don’t have anything particularly against them, I’ve just always favoured consistency over focusing on the switch of year as a reason to reset. I understand why people leverage the new year to re-align, establish goals, and map out the next twelve months, however for me, clarity of direction and persistent action hold more importance than the date on the calendar.

During a recent article I mentioned a new Wellness Centre opened in the town centre. When I first visited, I booked a couple of treatments to test the waters, one was Cryotherapy and the other was the Hyperbaric Oxygen Chamber.

When it comes to training, there’s a big difference between just showing up versus turning up to work.

Of course, not every session is going to be maximum intensity. We all have off days, moments of exhaustion, or times where the focus just isn’t there. But when you walk through those gym doors, what’s your intention?

When I opened Strava recently, I noticed they’d added a new feature showing your streak of active weeks. Mine currently sits at 265, which corresponds to five years of uninterrupted training since I first started tracking. And that’s just what’s been measured since I started using Strava.

As I’ve covered in past posts, despite my almost relentless focus on pushing myself physically, I’ve never really given rest and recovery the same level of attention. More so recently though, I’ve acknowledged that I can’t keep punishing my body without giving it the rest, recovery, and recuperation it needs.

There’s been more than a few times in my life when people have commented on the consistency of training habits that I perhaps take for granted. During my mid-twenties and early thirties, I used to post runs, gym sessions and progress updates on social media. Over time though as I’ve mentioned elsewhere, my social media usage dwindled to the point of not using it at all.

One of the areas I’ve consistently overlooked as part of my training regime is stretching and recovery. I often stretch at the start and end of training sessions and long runs, especially stretching my lower half. The reality, however, is that I’ve been putting my body under immense stress for years without giving it the proper recovery or stretching it not just deserves but craves.

For nearly two decades now, running has been part of my daily routine. When I moved to London in my early twenties, I swapped the commute in a crowded tube for running to the office and pretty much never looked back.

Sometimes you sign up for something before asking the sensible questions, like when, where, and how much training you’ll actually need. That’s exactly how I found myself heading to Farnborough in mid-February for my first Turf Games…with a team I’d barely trained with!