I’ve discovered something interesting this past week. I would normally be losing a bit of weight given my diet and exercise regime of late. And, with a lack of quality running over the past few months, along with a somewhat ‘relaxed’ diet , I should have put on weight during that time.

However, the reverse has happened. I actually lost a small amount of weight during the festive season, and this past week has seen me put a little bit on, despite eating less and increasing my running intensity. How could this be?

I’m pretty sure I’m correct in hypothesising that it’s to do with muscle mass. I definitely lost muscle mass in my right glute and thigh while I had the SI joint problem, and these are now back to normal, or close to it. My clothes are fitting more loosely now, indicating my body fat has decreased. So the slight gain in weight can only be due to my leg and bum cheek muscles increasing due to the more intense (and more typical) level of running I’m now able to do. All positive in my opinion.

This creative photo was taken by Carmel just north of Phoenix, Arizona, almost exactly six years ago today. I have no idea why a shard of mirror glass was stuck to the post. But I do know that I enjoyed running along this quiet dirt road past thousands of cactuses (which is apparently the more accepted plural of cactus, although cacti is also allowable).