A Set Back And The Mystery Of The Vanishing Time

This week's training has looked like this:
Saturday: parkrun
Sunday: Rest day
Monday: metafit
Tuesday: 1 hour at the driving range & 30 min HIIT workout
Wednesday: Rest day
Thursday: 4 mile run & metafit
Friday: 5 mile run, 30 min HIIT workout & 15 minutes yoga

You'll see there are more non-running workouts featuring in my training this week. This is partly because I've decided to take part in the Sweaty Betty 30 Day Sweat Challenge. It's part of their brilliant "get fit 4 free" campaign. You can take part in free workouts in store if you're lucky enough to have one close by, otherwise there will be online workouts (HIIT, yoga and other challenges) available throughout the month as well as recipes, tips and inspiration. I've not run nearly as many miles in the last week as I'd planned to and it's thrown me a little off track. Having these extra workouts has complimented what I have done and given me a bit of a boost.

Sunday was meant to be a long run day, but some drama and a very disturbed night's sleep meant that I felt completely wiped out and unable to join a couple of people for what was looking to be a really fabulous 22 mile run along the North Downs and Greensands Way. I'd even made a cake for post-run refueling (which got demolished by my work colleagues on Monday instead). So I decided to take it easy on myself, and gave myself permission to only do things I wanted to do. This resulted in a lie-in, breakfast in front of some Friday Night Lights (my latest box set obsession) then several hours on my allotment.

I'm a big fan of the headspace meditation app and have been using it daily for some time. I've recently completed 30 days of meditations on focus and I realised, when I was taking a lunch break at the allotment, that running and gardening are just about the only two activities I am totally present in. I become so engrossed in what I'm doing that I lose track of time or forget about things that have been bothering me before. I want to practice applying this to other things I do.

I finished the day with some batch cooking in an attempt to deal with the wonderful gluts of fruit and veggies around at the moment, and spending some time on a couple of craft projects I'm working on. The day was nothing like what I'd planned but exactly what I needed. Best of all I didn't feel at all guilty for not working out.

And the week has continued to improve from there. I got a PB for 2014 at Woodley parkrun on Saturday which was totally unexpected. It happened to be their 100th run and somehow I missed the memo about wearing blue. I wore green... Tuesday marked my first trip to the driving range. I've been challenged to 9 holes of golf tomorrow and it was deemed necessary for me to get some practice in. By golly that made me ache! Wednesday's rest day coincided with a day in the London office and dinner with my folks at Jamie's Italian in Threadneedle street. They do the most amazing chocolate macaroon dessert which I urge you to try.

And finally I'm delighted to have received my running vest from Hospiscare, along with a really lovely note from Celia, the lady I've been chatting with on email about all my events. The first event I'll be wearing this at is Equinox24 in just TWO WEEKS TIME! It's a pretty bright orange which can only help with being seen during the nighttime portion of the event. I can't believe it's come around so quickly. I thought I was all set but got a bit panicky on twitter during the week. But twitter is full of lovely people and so one packing list, some reassurance and some head torch recommendations later and I'm feeling much more settled. Last minute team changes haven't helped but we're finalised, focused and ready for fun, facepaints and flapjacks :)

Thanks to everyone who's donated/sponsored me so far, you are stars! If you haven't yet sponsored me please consider doing so at www.justgiving.com/VikkiRunning/ Every donation you make will be matched by my employer so you will be making double the difference. Thank you.

What's the best way you've found to cope with a set back in your training? Any tips for Equinox24?