Sometimes Life just gets a bit in the way and last week was one of those weeks ....

Marathon training requires a huge amount of commitment - and I don't just mean in terms of the time involved in actually running - more like the little things that you don't consider when you commit to running a marathon - things like the fact that you will be constantly hungry and probably constantly tired.

One thing I never factor in is the fact that after a long run in the cold I hardly have the energy to hold my own head up but if our 19 month old cockerpoo hasn't been out running with me she requires a lengthy walk on my return!!  Try reasoning with a bouncy fluffball that Mummy can't walk very fast today!!  On one such occasion I bumped into a very dreamy looking chap also walking a bouncy fluffball, he attempted to strike up a conversation with me - I could hardly speak I was so tired - in my head I was actually wondering how I was going to be able to make it home.  I managed to mumble something in response, needless to say he gave me a weird look and excused himself with a "well have a great day then..." as I shuffled off (literally) in the other direction - another one bites the dust.  (It is a constant source of amazement to me that I am still single btw!)

It would be nice to be completely selfish and focus solely on marathon training - eat, sleep and recover right all the time right?  But I am a single mum of three little pickles and I work full time and my life simply isn't like that - I don't think life is like that for most people and if I am honest I don't think I would want it to be.

Last week I took my Mum to my uncle's funeral - he died right after Christmas, he was very old and suffering with dementia and had a stroke before Christmas.  Mum and I managed to visit him in hospital, he was so frail and I think it was hard for Mum to see her brother like that.  I think there are times in life when you realise you are the adult now instead of your parents and this was one of those times I guess - another was when I realised I was the designated driver whenever we went somewhere instead of my Mum!!! It was lovely to be able to reconnect with some family we hadn’t seen for ages but did serve as an all too stark reminder of how short life is.

What I am trying to say is that with the best will in the world and no matter how selfish you are about sticking to your plan and never deviating, life will get in the way and throw you some curveballs. And I think the point is that life should get in the way, marathon training requires dedication and hard work but it also requires you to be flexible and to juggle and be creative with your use of time to get it all done.  But along the way it is important to remember that you have a life outside of running and that life itself is all too short.  So no beating myself up over one missed session, just get out there and live it.

Much love xx

Back to work with a bump ...

After a fantastic couple of weeks off for Christmas and New Year it was always going to be a bit tough getting back into the school and work routine and so it was a bit of a shocker when the alarm went off at 5:45am on Monday morning and it was back to the morning routine of making packed lunches, walking the dog and attempting to get three children out of bed and ready for school.

My three are a funny lot!  Still not sure the big girl is a bona fide teenager – I mean what other teenager gets out of bed at 6:30 every morning to walk the dog with her old mum? Don’t get me wrong I am eternally grateful for these moments we spend together when no one else is up yet – and these are the moments I hold onto when we are having one more “stop answering back” conversation!!  The boy on the other hand has to be coaxed out of bed every morning to the smell of fresh pain au chocolat – you know the ones that come in a can right?!  Dreading him hitting his teenage years, I mean how am I going to coax him out of bed then?  The little girl gets up without a problem, scrapes her hair into the messiest ponytail possible, slathers Nutella over something to eat and calls herself ready!!  All this whilst the dog sits on the windowsill watching the world go by.  Every morning is the same, we have our routine and we stick to it!

And so it was on Monday as we all set off on our first day back.  I was lulled into a false sense of security on the way back to work as the traffic was surprisingly light – this has not lasted.  I heard on the radio that it takes 4 days to get back into the groove at work after the holidays so I have stuck with that mantra all week.

One of the things I have been stressing about a bit is fitting all my training into the already a little too busy family schedule.  Up till now I have just downloaded a marathon training plan from the internet and gone with that – and it has worked pretty well but training for ultras and multi-stage races is something I know nothing about so my running buddy and I decided to enlist a coach to help prepare us.  We started working with our coach at the beginning of December and I think when you are paying for coaching and accountable to someone else there is additional pressure to make the plan work and do what you are told to do.  I have
to say it has taken me some time to adjust to someone else having control over my workouts and to really trust the process.

Over Christmas I have had more time to be able to make the plan work without the time restrictions of work and school and after school activities so this week was going to test whether I could actually fit everything in.  The answer is a qualified yes to be honest – it has been a bit of a juggle and here are some things I have
learnt this week:

• After a hard tempo session on Monday night there is no point attempting to get up at 5am and run 5 comfortable miles.  I am struggling with early morning running whilst it is still so dark so waiting to run till the evening made more sense and stopped me beating myself up all day about snoozing the alarm and missing a session!

• A hard hill session on Friday made for a suffer fest of 14 miles in the wind on Saturday – ever grateful to share those miles with my running buddy, without her I may have given up a lot sooner.

• My life literally revolves around food and sleep and rolling – no joke I think I am obsessed!

• It is ok to shift the plan around a bit – when I first spoke with my coach I said there are no days I can’t run – and that is true but there are days when life gets in the way and so it should and it is ok to move workouts around to accommodate that.

So I am heading into week 2 with a bit more confidence that I am back in the work and school groove, that I can make it all fit and that I can move workouts round a little bit to make it all work.

Keep showing up, keep putting the work in and it is all about the juggle!!

Much love xx

Oh hello 2020 – so nice to meet you!!

Happy New Year and Happy New Decade!!!

As we all know it is customary at this time of year to set ourselves loads of goals that we want to achieve for the new year.  I am not sure where the tradition of setting new year’s resolutions originates but I do know there is a lot of research and evidence around what day we all give up on those resolutions/goals and I believe it is actually still in January right!

So I thought it was worth talking about goal setting and making those goals stick as well as share some of my specific goals for this year.  But first I would think it is important to say that I just found the scrap of paper I wrote last year’s goals on and guess what? FAIL!  Maybe I am just not that good at being kind to myself!

If you Google goal setting you will get a whole heap of hits about setting SMART goals – I think this is a really useful acronym both when setting goals and also explaining why we don’t achieve our goals.

In short SMART stands for; Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, Time-based.  Effectively if the goals we set aren’t specific enough, we have no way of measuring whether we have achieved them or not or if they are so pie in the sky they are totally unachievable we are setting ourselves up to fail.  I am going to go out on a limb here and say my goal of being kinder to myself needed to be a bit more specific!!!

This year’s goals were also scribbled on a bit of paper – I think when I was suffering from the world’s worst cold in October/November and throwing myself a bit of a pity party – eventually my chiropractor worked a miracle and rid me of the stinking cold!!  The goals I wrote are really my running goals for 2020 and at least they are pretty specific and measurable!! They are (in case you can’t read my writing in the photo):

I commit to:

• Eating right – getting my nutrition right to support my goals

• Resting right – getting my sleep/recovery right to support my goals

• Putting in the work

March - spring marathon

July - 50k

September - Half Marathon des Sables

October - fall marathon (Chicago or Marine Corps)*

So no big mileage or PB goals as in previous years.  I have no idea how many miles I am going to run in pursuit of my first ultra and the HDMS so am resisting setting a goal – well I did mention a goal with the 9yo when we were walking the dog the other day but she pinky-promised she wouldn’t tell anyone!!!  As for PB’s – ultra-running is going to be a whole new ballgame and whilst I would love a marathon PB it is not the focus this year.

I am committed to doing the work to make my goals a reality and commit to sharing more of my training on the blog so you can see what I have been up to.  I would love to hear what goals you have set yourself for 2020.

Much love xx

P.s. And yes I will again attempt to be kinder to myself!