Killing Time Before Brighton

How nice was the Bank Holiday weekend in England for once?! Ok we got a bit of rain of Friday but Sunday and Monday were rather glorious and restful for me, for a change. So much of a change I feel compelled to write about it.

My Friday morning was given over to marshal duties whilst Saturday was a nice mix of volunteering at the first Bracknell parkrun (seeing lots of familiar faces and meeting the Mayor), running, dog walking and a few drinks for a friends' birthday.

But of course I'm on taper at the moment and as such the vast swathes of time I had at my disposal on Sunday and Monday could not be filled with hours of running. I did get out for a pre-breakfast 30 minute recovery run on Easter Sunday though. I decided to do a few laps of the lake in the nature reserve behind my house. It's only about three quarters of a mile round so don't run there generally but it's beautiful and I don't even go walking round there as much as I should. Although I did spend a very happy evening sitting on a bench looking over the lake with my ex-housemate and a bottle of wine once.

I had breakfast outside for the first time this year and spent the rest of the day eating more HCBs (toasted with cheese for lunch - really good) making bunting from some of my dads old shirts and watching the last episodes of Breaking Bad.

I got really restless though; I'm not used to having no plans! I pottered around on the allotment on Monday and got home just in time to meet the ice cream van...

Then I took myself back to the lake with a book and sat in the sun on a tree stump ,feeling very Tom Sawyer. A late lunch in the sun was followed by a snooze and an evening of cooking, baking and the cinema. It was absolute bliss I tell you, although I really, really wanted to run on Monday. I did get out at lunchtime yesterday though for a gentle hours jog in the sun and I've got lots of energy in my legs so I suppose it's all working.

Yes I'm wearing a daisy chain headband... what of it?

Spare moments were spent keeping up to date with how friends and notable celebs are doing in MdS. I'm not sure if MdS is distracting me from Brighton or the other way around!

How was your Easter weekend? Did you get active or chill out? Anyone else on taper finding they're disproportionately hungry at the moment?

Cake, Concerns and Case Studies

It's less than a month to go until the Brighton Marathon and so last weekend I did my longest run to date in this set of training; 3 hour run at marathon pace. I wasn't looking forward to it and although I managed to keep the average pace I had aimed for I'm still nervous that my longest run has only been 16 miles and that I have to maintain that for another 10 miles. If I'd designed my own training programme I'd have run further. My longest runs were 18 and 20 miles respectively in my previous marathon training. But I'm trying to keep the faith.

As if 3 hours of running wasn't enough I also took Jasper The Dog for an hours walk that day. Dogs don't care that you've run 16 miles. They tend to want to bound around for as long as you'll let them. I've grown very fond of Jasper very quickly and might try a bit of a jog with him next time.

The highlight of the weekend though was joining my friend Debbie for her 100th park run. As is customary there was cake. A huge Victoria sponge that was demolished in the cafe over talk of the Barcelona marathon and lashings of tea. Perfect.

I started the week feeling rather fatigued and ended up skipping my workout on Monday. I could feel that I needed the down time and so after PTing a friend and staying a while for dinner and a much-needed chat I ended up in bed around 9:30pm, falling asleep to an episode of Breaking Bad. I had the best nights sleep in around two weeks. I did Monday's workout on Tuesday after RunFit but still struggled. Despite feeling as though I was working hard I couldn't get my heart rate into the zone I was meant to. But I moved my body and slept well again. I developed a streaming nose on Thursday for no apparent reason and started to fret about my training again. Twitter gave me all the advice about rest that I'd have given others which I tried to take. I've done what I can and am trying not to worry about what I couldn't. Sum total of this week's training amounts to one strength session including a 200kg prowler pull (which I'm pretty pleased with - so sue me), one swimming lesson and 27.5 miles run.

Lunch in the garden, topping up the iron and vitamin D levels

I had a blood test to check that my vitamins and minerals were all in balance as although I've not changed the supplements I'm taking, my lifestyle has changed a bit and I'd been feeling more up-and-down. Glad to report that all levels are normal apart from my cholesterol which has apparently gone up since my last test in September but as I wasn't told whether my HDL or LDL was high it's not a very helpful reading. So sleep, good food, rest and less worry is the order of the day I think.

This weekend I've got to get my head back into the books one more time to finish off my case study and draw up some session plans. I'll also be helping out at Cholsey Chase and walking Jasper again. All this productivity is nicely book-ended by extra fun in the form of a gig and an evening of The Walking Dead viewing, both of which I'm looking forward to A LOT.

Papers, papers everywhere

Have you managed to get out in the sunshine this week? Just why is it that running and cake seem to go hand in hand?

Sheep, Storms and Soppy Dogs

Life is still mainly eat, work, train, sleep, repeat but I have managed to have a bit of life outside of that. Saturday was a happy mix of a speedier-than-planned parkrun, the arrival of some proper vinyl to listen to (music is right up there alongside food and running in terms of things I love) and a marvellous dinner with some family. I sort of bounced from one thing to another on Sunday; from Kent to Berkshire to dog-walking to cinema to run to zombie-watching to conversation with a far-flung friend. It was mostly ace.

The ace parts were taking my godson to see Shaun the Sheep (which I probably enjoyed more than he did) and getting to walk a beautiful soppy black lab called Jasper for a couple in my capacity as volunteer for the Cinnamon Trust. We took a walk across some local heathland in the sunshine, getting vaguely lost. I think he might be game for a bit of jogging!

Silly soppy Jasper

The not so ace part was my run. The only time I had to fit my run in was in the only part of the day it was due to be wet. I was meant to be out for 2h15. this did not happen. I was prepared for the weather but even so the sheets of rain that I encountered after only 5 minutes and the subsequent drenching my a car provoked a few profanities. I found myself in a quickly darkening forest and with stomach cramps that reduced me to a walk. I got home as quickly as I could and counted myself lucky I rarely have sessions like that.

About to brave the storm

So including the aforementioned runs, the last seven days of training has consisted of a strength session, 15.75 miles on the bike, runs totalling 31.2 miles and my swim lesson which focused on crawl technique and breaststroke turns. Not too shabby!

Juggling teaching/coaching, work, training and downtime has been pretty tricky this week though. With regards to training it's not that I can't manage the sessions themselves, it's trying to physically fit them in that's proving tough. I'll be sending my coach a revised schedule of commitments to try and address that. What's becoming clear is that I'm going to have to make some fairly big decisions soon. probably sooner than I'd hoped.

Early morning sunrises 

Please tell me I wasn't the only one caught in a storm at the weekend? Anyone else secretly love kids films?

These are a few of my favourite things...

This week has been utterly brilliant and full of all my favourite things. If only I could find a way to make a living from learning, watching films, seeing my friends, cooking and going to the gym I think I'd be truly happy forever.

I got my exam results from the weekend (97% for my Core Training) and started the e-learning for my Nutrition and Weight Management course. I also started another online course through FutureLearn, in conjunction with the Open University and the University of Warwick, called "The Mind is Flat: the shocking shallowness of human psychology". I thought it might be a good thing to do alongside my PT course to get a bit more insight into the human psychology which might help me with positioning myself as a trainer further down the line. I've completed the material for week one and it's hugely interesting, regardless of whether or not I'll be to apply it.

I've managed to do some sort of exercise almost every day, walking the dogs, PT session, Body Balance, gym sessions and more treadmill walking for FitFlop testing. My abs finally stopped aching round about Wednesday and the arms took over. I'm finally feeling like I'm making some progress on the speed and strength front; I've added an extra interval to my speed session and finally increased the weights on part of my strength routine.

Alcoholic yogurt... mmmm yes please!

In foodie news I got a delivery from TheProteinWorks of some of their new Cherry and Almond flapjacks, which were on offer and are absolutely delicious. I also tracked down some of the new Raspberry and Amaretto yogurt from The Collective on offer at Waitrose... also amazingly scrummy. I had to be very controlled and not buy every yogurt flavour I fancied trying. I think I'm the only person on earth who gets more seduced by the yogurt aisle than the cake aisle in the supermarket. I'm not convinced it's a much healthier habit to have sometimes. My tomato plants finally got ripped out and stripped of the remaining fruits which lead to a batch of green tomato soup to see me through the weeks lunches; another success which I'll share soon.

Segway-ing in Chicago. Love that skyline. I miss it. I'm booking a flight right now...

This weekend I'm skipping parkrun again and taking my friend's eldest lad on a segway adventure. I'm not sure who's more excited. I've been on a segway before in Chicago but I think this is going to be a bit more rugged. On Sunday I'm going to the ice hockey again but this time I'm taking my fella. We're seeing the Bracknell Bees play the Telford Tigers. We have upstairs seats this time so it'll be a very different experience for me. 

So it's been a very full week, and that's without mentioning the cinema trip and socialising! I'm holding out hope that next week will continue the trend. What's been your highlight this week? Have you done any of the things that make you truly happy?

Incidentally if you fancy trying some of those fancy new flapjacks, or indeed the brand new porridge pots from The Protein Works, not only do they have both on offer but if you order via this link you will get 250g of their premium Whey Protein 80 in whichever flavour you prefer absolutely FREE if it's your first order.

The Cinnamon Trust

Back in the summer I signed up to volunteer with The Cinnamon Trust. In their own words, the Trust is a charity that "seeks to relieve the anxieties, problems, and sometimes injustices, faced by elderly and terminally ill people and their pets, thereby saving a great deal of human sadness and animal suffering" by offering short and long term fostering and extra practical help with day-to-day care of pets such as dog walking services. Pets are a great source of comfort and companionship, especially to the elderly so the idea is to keep them together for as long as possible.

The Trust takes the vetting of their volunteers very seriously. I had to provide details of three referees, all of whom were contacted. I then received an ID card along with a comprehensive volunteers guide and waited for a call but a few weeks ago I was contacted and asked if I could help out with some dog walking. A lady a couple of miles away had fallen ill and was no longer able to walk her two westies, Bertie and Polly. I was unsure about how much help I could offer but was reassured that the Trust try and find two or three people in the area to help share the load. I had a chat on the phone with the owner and arranged my first walk. I was a bit nervous on arrival. Would the dogs like me? Would I like them? What would the owner be like? In the end Polly and Bertie turned out to be very sweet little things who took me on a walk rather than the other way around. They have their route and know it well, happy to trot along and keep to themselves unless another dog shows up. 

Polly and Bertie. I'm only just learning to tell them apart.

Half an hour later and I returned two much less energetic dogs to their owner and made a plan for a next walk. Although I offered several times and days we settled on a week later. We agreed that we wouldn't be tied to a particular day or time, but arrange each visit at the end of the next and this is what we've done ever since. 

They're strong! We go at a fair clip through the woods.

Given that my lifestyle isn't suited to dog ownership, this is a lovely way to pretend I have a dog (or two in this case) and provide some much needed help at the same time. It adds a bit more exercise into my week and gives me an excuse to explore the woods nearby. 

If you're a wannabe dog (or cat, or horse...) owner or just want to do a good deed, consider signing up to volunteer with the Trust. It's a wonderful cause with benefits for you, the owners and their beloved pets.