An end to the madness is in sight

It's been a little while since I've written a "weekly update" post what with all the events I've had going on. There's been race reviews coming out of my ears, which is cool because I love taking part in events but I won't lie, it's nice to have a breather... comparatively speaking anyway.

Although the mammoth five-events-in-two-weekends is over my race schedule still has a little way to go. My last biggie of the year is the Bournemouth Marathon on October 6th. Although I had a carefully crafted training plan that worked towards this and the previous triathlons, it's all gone a bit pear-shaped in the last month or so as I overestimated how much I'd be able to accomplish in between holidays and events. As it is, even though I've dropped swimming and cycling and I'm technically into my taper, Monday found me still not having managed to have run anything over 16 miles and having serious doubts about whether or not to even attempt the marathon.

I remember how much it hurt last time

Thankfully I found some welcome advice and motivation on twitter and from friends. I'd read that breaking your long run into two sections over the course of a day was just as effective as doing it all in one go and as that was realistically the only way I'd get one in I got up bright and early on Tuesday, cranked out 8 miles before breakfast and another 12 miles straight from the office after work. This had the benefit of tricking my mind and body into thinking I was actually doing less than I was, and getting a change of scenery, but even after a few hours my body was leaving me in no doubt as to whether it had been effective... oh my the DOMS! So with a 20 miler under my belt I feel much more prepared. I'd done a light PT workout and a pyramid intervals session on Monday so was able to have a couple of days break.

This weekend I have my first workshop for my Personal Training qualification - Gym Instructor! It starts with the exams for the Anatomy and Physiology module so it's been a fine balancing act between training and revision. I'd say I'm just about ready. I'm really looking forward to it (back to school!) and by a happy chance the course has been moved from Reading to my local gym in Wokingham, of which I am a member - huzzah! It runs Friday through to Sunday but as it's so close to home I'll have time to do a taper run as well as my homework.

Next week I'm on leave and planning to go to Norfolk for a few days. I'll have coursework to start and plan to do a couple of short taper runs before the big day. I've never felt the need for so much time off before, I've pushed myself quite hard this year. It's unfortunate in a way that everything's condensed into such a short space of time, it wasn't planned that way! 

After the marathon I'm looking forward to having a break from training and doing some things for fun. I'll be trying out land yachting (weather permitting), a Fitness Playground session and tackling The Major Series with Anita. I plan to get back to parkruns (let's start working towards that 100 t-shirt) and readdress my fitness/training goals with my PT. I think winter might be a good time to work on speed.

Doing parkrun back in the day when I was part of a club

The London Marathon ballot results are likely to be coming out soon and at the moment I think I'd be fine if I didn't get a place. The thought of starting training *again* and over the winter is just a bit miserable. Focusing on my study would be a good thing. My mum's suggested I cap the number of events I enter next year to around 8. I already have 2 booked and around 5 in mind, excluding the local summer series, so it'll be tough to choose but ultimately sensible. I love the atmosphere and sense of occasion at events but doing less will mean I stand a better chance of prepping properly and maybe busting out some new PBs. Maybe 2014 will be the year of the sub 25 minute 5k!