For the final day’s Janathon, I ventured off to Haigh Hall with Ginge. The day began with a false start, we parked up and then discovered that my Garmin had been on all night and had run out of juice. So home we went, put the Garmin on charge, did a couple of jobs, went to town, went back to Haigh Hall, crossed our fingers that there would be enough battery to clock my mileage and set off.

The first (downhill) half was splendid – I felt strong and happy. The return journey was literally an uphill struggle. I was pooped and grew increasingly sulky. There was a certain amount of walk-running and then sheer relief as we hit 4 miles.

So what have I learned from Janathon?

1. It’s harder than Juneathon. It’s cold, dark, there’s not much day left after everything has been jogged, logged and blogged.
2. If it wasn’t for Ginge, it would have been many times harder. He’s been fabulous.
3. The community on twitter and the comments on my posts have been brilliant – there’s been so many inspirational people involved that you can’t help being swept along by them.
4. I ran further in the first week of Janathon than I did in the whole of January  2010. Ooops.
5. I ran further during Janathon than I did between January and the end of April 2010. Ooops again.
6. I’ve enjoyed taking photos on my runs (even though they all seem to be of sheep, trees and water), I’ve enjoyed venturing out onto new routes and I’ve enjoyed realising that there’s some lovely scenery on my doorstep.
7. There’s no reason that I can’t run outside most of the time – when I signed up for Janathon I had a plan to join a gym for a month or so, but was too scared of being an annoying newbie. Turns out I didn’t need to anyway (though I have been lucky with the weather).
8. I am fitter and stronger. With some more effort, I can be fitterer and strongerer.
9. Fish and porridge is a dubious combination.
10. It’s possible for me and Ginge to run together without falling out. Hurrah!

I will work out the final totals of Janathon asap. In the meantime, this is how we celebrated the end of Janathon. Barbecue in 0C weather. The madness seemed apt.

Day 31/31 – 4 miles

Ferrero rochers burned