Week Four

Tuesday - 5.5 miles

Wednesday - 5 miles

Saturday - 2 hours (11.5 miles)
Sunday - 90 minutes (9 miles)

This week has been a bit easier in terms of mileage, but it has definitely not been easy mentally.  My chronic GI issues have flared up in a major way, not helped by stress due to starting clinical placement.  World politics are making me alternately depressed/angry and physically everything has just seemed harder than usual.   People always think running is easy for me - but despite being (relatively) fit, sometimes it can still seem like an uphill struggle.  My best tip when training for an event is have a plan, but focus on just getting through the current week and everything else will take care of itself...

On Tuesday, due to a bout of insomnia, I changed the plan from going running in the evening with Midnight Runners to getting up and heading out for my run at 6am.  I was pootling along when suddenly I heard someone call my name and unbelievably, there was the lovely Melina at Tower Bridge!  What are the chances?!

She was waiting for Laura and Pietro and when they arrived we all went for a lovely dawn run together, which was just a lovely surprise and a great start to the day.  It also freed up my evening to go and do yoga.  I don't really enjoy yoga, but it's worth it for when we get to pigeon pose (if you're wondering, it's this) as it must stretch all the muscles that running tightens as it always feels completely amazing!  Unfortunately it doesn't seem to work unless I've done the class first....

On Wednesday it was sadly time to return the Hat of Awesomeness, so I duly went off to Project Awesome.  I wasn't in the best of moods when I arrived but as ever, it cheered me up massively.  It's pretty much impossible to be sad when you're doing burpees to Justin Bieber.

On Friday night I went back to Horsham and slept the sleep of the eternal dead after an exhausting week...

.. but even that wasn't enough and I was really NOT feeling a 2 hour run.  I'd got my road running shoes out but decided at the last possible second to switch to my trail shoes and spend it in the forest instead.  It was a beautiful day and a beautiful route, though I never really reached a point where I felt like I was happily into my stride.  I decided I would take a series of random turnings, exploring bits I'd never been to before and as a result stumbled across some lovely views:

Sussex really is stunning, I am so lucky to get to run here most weekends.  However it was pretty muddy and hilly, the random route meant I accidentally ended up climbing way more hills than planned. I also had an encounter with a rather friendly labradoodle who jumped up at me whilst running (see paw prints on my thigh!) which was funny but also a bit of a shock!

Today I just did 90 minutes on roads, it was so uninspiring I didn't take any pictures!  I was meant to be doing an obstacle course mud run today (Tough Guy) but pulled out at Christmas for various reasons, not least of which was fear of getting injured, and my thoughts were with the amazing PA crew who went out and smashed it today.  You're all absolute legends and earned massive respect from me, I honestly don't think I could have managed it.

This week I noticed my average resting heart rate has dropped to a new low of 47.  According to the internet, "While the normal resting heart rate for adults ranges from 60 to 100 beats per minute, conditioned athletes and other highly fit individuals might have normal resting heart rates of 40 to 60 beats per minute. This indicates a high level of cardiovascular fitness." So that's quite exciting, eh?

Another thing that's quite exciting is I've officially reached halfway to my fundraising target of £1500.  I know that money is going to help people like the person who's going to get my kidney and also fund research into chronic kidney disease.  Thank you so much to everyone who has already donated so generously and to anyone who is thinking about it but hasn't yet, THANK YOU IN ADVANCE and here's the link: http://www.virginmoneygiving.com/marathonmadness
(Please note the site is down for maintenance until 8am tomorrow (Monday 30th) morning).