I’m back! I haven’t stopped running, just haven’t kept up with the blogging end of the project – whoops!

So for a bit of an update, I last spoke of heading up to Queensland for a work trip and my intention to take a break from running while up there to give my shin a chance to rest up. That happened, and I ended up taking about 4 weeks off in total to really give it a good go. I started taking calcium supplements and it has made a HUGE difference, like, to the point that I’m shocked and a bit annoyed that I didn’t think to do so sooner. My doctor recommended it for something unrelated, but considering that I suspected I had a little stress fracture (on the BONE), it makes sense that taking some extra calcium would help to support my recovery. So I’ve been able to run without that annoying “bruised” feeling, and I haven’t even needed to ice! Miraculous!

After my break, I also started my new artist for the project, and I’ll confess, it’s slightly cheating but I’ll list the rationale behind my choice.

I have a few artists floating around in my mind to cover during this project, including (but not limited to): Slipknot, Korn, Hanson, The Beach Boys, Blink 182…

But when I went to start with a few of them, the first album run times were just too long – I was only just getting back into it after taking the month and I didn’t want to launch straight into 60 min runs! So I chose Alkaline Trio BECAUSE:

• Classic pop-punk run times = a cruisy 30-40 mins – nice!
• Although they aren’t new to me (like at all) I haven’t widely listened after a select few albums (similar to my experience with Green Day) PLUS they recently released a new album so I thought it would be a great opportunity to go back and start afresh
• I’ve decided to sing (or at least mouth along) while I run as a way to pace myself. I’m a sucker for pop-punk harmonies. I read that Taylor Swift did this as a way to train for her Eras tour, and honestly, she should be running ultramarathons with that kind of stamina!

So I’ve already worked my way through the first 5 albums (whoops!) which means that I have 5 to go. I’ll update my posts to get back on track.

I’ve also been running my local parkrun most Saturdays and did the 10km run in Launceston this weekend past – it felt great to run in such a big event, and although I wasn’t going for a PB (more on this later) it felt good to get out and run in a new place. If you are a diligent reader, you might remember that I was training to complete my first half-marathon in June. I ended up running the 10km instead (more on this later too) – I had to change my plans, but I’ll provide that update in due course!

Please enjoy some sketchy low-res and severely unflattering photos of some recent parkruns.