Well my prediction of feeling "at a loss" hasn't exactly come true but I ended last Sunday feeling bloated and lethargic. I guess this is the post-marathon depression people talk about. I've still got three events to go in my charity series but I'm not feeling very motivated to train this week. When I think about my next session I start to feel a bit stressed about fitting it in and tired at the thought of it. I think I've just felt as though I've been "in training" for too long and I'd quite like it to stop. I've been feeling under pressure to fit everything in and I never do a run or a class just for the enjoyment of it. I feel great physically, I do love exercising, really and I know I'm fitter than maybe ever, but it's become a chore. Body Pump this week felt tougher than it should have done, for instance.
I had a bit of a break over the weekend, visiting friends in Wales, walking dogs, exploring castles, eating lovely food, drinking wine and not beating myself up about. It was just what I needed. I'm not tracking my calories this week but I'm confident I'm eating properly. Fruit and granola in the mornings, salads and pastas for lunch, fruit and nut snacks, herbal teas throughout the day (using up all those samples I've acquired) and omlettes, curries, stir frys and chillis for dinner. The bloat has gone!I started reading Iona's Runing Blog this week. I've followed her on twitter for a while but realised I wasn't following or reading her blog so I recitified that and spent a happy while catching up on her posts to date. I've been really impressed with both her writing style and the content so far but also with her determination and drive. Her stories of tackling beasty hills, running with a friend regularly and getting new PBs have been a real inspiration to me, making me want to work towards some new PBs of my own and getting excited about exercising again, somehow.
I'll be moving house at the end of the month which coincides with the end of my current gym membership so it's a perfect opportunity to find a new gym to suit me and find a new running club to help me with my speed work. I'll make more of an effort this time, in terms of making friends; I never felt I was really part of the gang before, lovely as they all were. I'll have the forest close to me again so I can find brand new routes to run and ride... it should be a lot of fun, and I can gradually start to work on those new PBs with track and hill work.
So I have been trying to get into a new and more positive mindset over the course of this week as I enter a slightly different phase of my training, with runs measured by duration not distance and geared more towards triathlon. I have more new kit in the form of bright leggings which I am excited to take out for a test run and an entry into the Brighton Marathon in October that I may live to regret. I've also entered the ballot for a place in next year's London Marathon. With the exception of the marathon all the events after May are really fun, and relatively easy if I can maintain my fitness level. Let's get the fun back for a while before I dive into the next challenge!
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