Well here I am on my rest day after week 1 of using an official marathon training plan and looking ahead to week 2...and what a week its been both physically and emotionally.
As I mentioned in my last post I decided to use the Nike+ coach (you will learn that I'm a bit of a Nike+ fan girl) as I use the apps to track all my running stats and got a Nike+ running watch for Christmas (see!). I looked through the plan before I commited and decided that it was doable and would fit around my lifestyle. As its also within the app it sends you reminders of what training you have coming up which keeps you on track/puts the guilters on if you're sitting on the sofa with a cuppa and a biscuit trying to justify a second rest day.
The downside...once again it assumes a 9 to 5 job so the rest day is always on a Sunday, which is fine every other weekend but will make things even more tough going for the inbetween weekends. I'm a glass half full person though, so I'm trying to think that maybe it might be quite good if a part of my life does have a routine. I work shifts and the patterns change every week so I'm used to not having a daily routine as such so although this plan might sometimes be a hinderance it might also bring more order to my life. We shall see...
So, how is the training actually going?
Well physically, so far its not too bad. The runs in the week are challenging enough to complete every day but not pushing me so hard that I want to cry (yet). Even with my 12 miler yesterday I still felt not too bad until the last mile when my legs started to protest. Thats what confirms for me that running is all in the mind, I know I can run further than 12 miles (and I have to next weekend) but I think because my brain knew that I was doing 12 miles it started to protest when it knew that the finish was near. I can definitely feel myself getting fitter and starting to tone up properly so I'm really enjoying that bit and looking forward to seeing the changes to my body as my training progresses.
Emotinally, its starting to show a bit. I've worked a couple of day time shifts this last week which means I had to get up early, run and then go straight off to work. I've also been doing some overtime as well to pay for some post marathon rewards so I'm not going to lie it has been tough. However, hats off to anyone who is training alongside a 9-5 job, you have to train at some very unfun times of the day and I admire you for it. I have enjoyed seeing the miles rack up on Nike+ though (there she goes again) and I just keep trying to focus on completing the challenge and the feeling I'll get on the day.
Which leads me on to some quite exciting news...as some of you may or may not know. I am running for the charity I volunteer for Leonard Cheshire Disability. Because I volunteer for my local service Symonds House, Leonard Cheshire are kindly allowing all funds raised to be donated directly to the service. So I got a call from Leonard Cheshire's press office on Monday and they left me a message asking me if I would be interested in doing some media work with them. They want to interview me for an article to go in the local press which will raise awareness of the service and the charity and hopefully also generate some revenue on my fundrasing page (cheeky hint there). Its quite exciting and an honour to be chosen to represent the charity for such a big event so I'm really looking forward to doing it. I shall keep you posted on the progress of that little piece of news.
I'm also really happy that I'm starting to connect more with the running community on Twitter, Instagram and through blogging. I've been chatting to a few other runners that tweet and others with running blogs and its really helps to know that you aren't alone. I don't know anyone else close to me thats running the marathon so its great to have somewhere to turn and others to share the experience with who know what its like. I'm also up for chatting to other runners both bloggers and tweeters/instagrammers so please feel free to get in touch on Twitter and Instagram. It would be great to chat!
This post is scheduled for 9am so by the time this goes live I'll hopefully be eating my porridge in preperation for a 5 miler. I'm looking forward to exploring the Hitchin Outer Orbital Path!
Happy Running!
Holly
x
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