What a difference a week makes. It may have been a tad fresh down at Southsea this morning (if a 30mph wind can be described as fresh) but the sun was out, the freezing temperatures gone and I found myself actually enjoying a run for the first time in weeks. With my new best friends (Brooks Ghost 5's) safely broken in during the week I ran an easy and generally pain free 13 miles in just under two hours.
Today may have been good, but I've been struggling in another way this week...... time. When you decide to take on a challenge like this one you add pressure to the age old love triangle that exists between work, family and training time. The work end of the trio is a high maintenance, hard hearted, jealous partner who does not want you to see the other two. Using any means possible she'll track you down with her latest "crisis" to ensure you stay with her as long as possible and ensure you're thinking of her at all times. With such a demanding partner in one corner it leaves you with less time to deal with the other two.
The thing about running is that it's not something you can often do with the family. Runners toil away for miles and miles to selflessly raise money for charity, on race day the family can join the fun, and will get a massive sense of pride from seeing you cross that line, but most of the time running is a relatively selfish thing to do. As the weeks build the runs get longer and what used to be just popping out for a run turns into a half day extravaganza. What used to be a couple of days a week threatens to become every day, gels and powders fill the cupboards, only certain foods can be eaten on training days and worst of all sweaty, smelly lycra needs washing.
The training program I intended to follow suggested I should be on the road five times a week. I always new this wasn't going happen so I've aimed at four, but truth be known that between a hectic period at work and life in general I've managed that only once in the first nine weeks of my plan. A week ago this was adding to the general malaise that I was feeling around all things running. But I'm managing my long run distances with comparative ease and have yet to pick up anything other than a niggle so there's no need to panic. In fact, maybe I'm better off being relatively fresh.
Of course I may think that I'm not running enough but I'm still out of the house for a fair few hours a week. A fair few hours that my wife Emma gets to spend looking after the kids alone, just like she does all week when I'm at the office. A fair few hours that I very much enjoy. A fair few hours that I'm very grateful to her for. So thank you Emma, your support so far is very much appreciated. Only 11 weeks til this madness is over and we can get back to our usual routine.............. Remember, no sugar in my tea, make sure you boil the egg for exactly the prescribed four minutes and just leave the tray beside the bed if I've decided to lay in past ten this week.
Today may have been good, but I've been struggling in another way this week...... time. When you decide to take on a challenge like this one you add pressure to the age old love triangle that exists between work, family and training time. The work end of the trio is a high maintenance, hard hearted, jealous partner who does not want you to see the other two. Using any means possible she'll track you down with her latest "crisis" to ensure you stay with her as long as possible and ensure you're thinking of her at all times. With such a demanding partner in one corner it leaves you with less time to deal with the other two.
The thing about running is that it's not something you can often do with the family. Runners toil away for miles and miles to selflessly raise money for charity, on race day the family can join the fun, and will get a massive sense of pride from seeing you cross that line, but most of the time running is a relatively selfish thing to do. As the weeks build the runs get longer and what used to be just popping out for a run turns into a half day extravaganza. What used to be a couple of days a week threatens to become every day, gels and powders fill the cupboards, only certain foods can be eaten on training days and worst of all sweaty, smelly lycra needs washing.
The training program I intended to follow suggested I should be on the road five times a week. I always new this wasn't going happen so I've aimed at four, but truth be known that between a hectic period at work and life in general I've managed that only once in the first nine weeks of my plan. A week ago this was adding to the general malaise that I was feeling around all things running. But I'm managing my long run distances with comparative ease and have yet to pick up anything other than a niggle so there's no need to panic. In fact, maybe I'm better off being relatively fresh.
Of course I may think that I'm not running enough but I'm still out of the house for a fair few hours a week. A fair few hours that my wife Emma gets to spend looking after the kids alone, just like she does all week when I'm at the office. A fair few hours that I very much enjoy. A fair few hours that I'm very grateful to her for. So thank you Emma, your support so far is very much appreciated. Only 11 weeks til this madness is over and we can get back to our usual routine.............. Remember, no sugar in my tea, make sure you boil the egg for exactly the prescribed four minutes and just leave the tray beside the bed if I've decided to lay in past ten this week.
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