Hello World!

Getting back into training again after a summer break usually takes me a couple of weeks in September while I adjust to Autumn routines, get my act together and dig out my mojo. This year it’s taken me nearly 8 weeks, Oops!

Excuses? Yes lots. Since the start of September things have been rather full on with work, home, family and life plus my OH has had a stressful and disruptive month work-wise so my focus has not been on running nor blogging.

I did get a bit of focus when I received this in the post…

 

And then some more focus when trying to find something to wear recently. I had to admit to myself that my clothes were not the problem but my lack of running and therefore expanding muffin top!

I haven’t been totally sedentary. I might not have made it out of my front door once on a run since the summer but I have been to BMF 2 or 3 times a week which has maintained my general fitness. I have also run a couple of un-trained half marathons. The first was Run to the Beat at the start of September, enough said about that the better! My record slow finish time wasn’t just my complete lack of training as the race crowding (standstill at one point) and a long loo queue added a good 15 minutes.

The second was the Ealing Half Marathon . A great race again, like last year, which I treated as a long Sunday run (with added bonus of water stations and support along the way). I was very pleased to find that I had maintained my fitness enough to be able to run the whole distance, at an easy pace, without getting puffed and only 9 minutes slower than last year. My legs however, having not had many miles in preparation, were feeling quite painful for the last 3 miles.

My final focus was to pay for my London Marathon ballot place this weekend so I’m committed! I already have a Brighton Marathon place for the week before London so I have some thinking to do before then.

I’m going to start training on 1 November. I have 5 months so have time to try out my idea for a training plan during the first month and see how it goes. But more about that later, time for me to get out that door…