#REDJanuary 2021

This is the third year I have taken part in this challenge. Unfortunately this year it hasn't quite gone as I had planned/wanted to complete it. However, I'm proud of how I've still completed it and kept active, accepting a few things along the way!

Last year I took the "RED" part of the challenge literally as Run Every Day, however, this year due to a persistent knee injury, it soon became clear that running each day was not going to be doable. This was a real blow at first and had me really down for a few days. I decided that to try and beat the injury blues I would do a lower impact form of exercise when I would normally go out for a run. The idea was that I would still feel the benefits of working out and wouldn't just be sat around feeling sorry for myself.

The results of doing this were actually extremely positive. Not only did it give me chance to rest my knee for a few days, so I could still get out for a few runs a week, but I've also found a lot of nice workouts that I'm going to try and keep fitting into my weekly training. These included a lot of strength training (mainly upper body), low-impact HIIT workouts, core training, walking/hiking, and also the odd yoga session!

Something I started feeling towards the end of last year was that I think I'd become a little obsessed with running and especially comparing myself with how far/fast/high others were going. Taking a step back from going out every day trying to push myself to keep up with others has really made me see that it was taking the joy out of a lot of my runs. I was running for numbers, rather than enjoyment.

After mixing in a lot of different training types this month, I feel in a much better place to manage my knee by not feeling the pressure to run all the time, and keep up some of my other workouts.

Having said that, here are some numbers! I think these are a nice comparison from last year, and good to look back on.

Running

  • 22 runs
  • 181.7km covered
  • 1,860m elevation gain

Walking

  • 72.8km covered
  • 712m elevation gain

Overall

  • 31 active days
  • 32h 25m moving time
  • 254.5km covered
  • 2,570m elevation gain

Next year I hope to complete the challenge by running it all, however, this month has given me a real boost physically and also mentally for going forward with my injury.

Massive congratulations to all others who took part in the challenge, whether raising money for charity or doing it to improve their wellbeing both physically and mentally. Let's push on for the rest of the year!