Not Leading By Example

This week's training:
Saturday: parkrun
Sunday: LiRF
Monday: Rest day
Tuesday: 4 mile run
Wednesday: Rest day
Thursday: 6 mile run & Body Balance
Friday: 5 mile run

Slowly slowly I've gotten back on track and I'm back in the running groove. A wet 10th anniversary parkrun and a 4 mile run I managed to squeeze in between work and a gig on Tuesday were both speedy and confidence building. It's not so much the case that I don't think I'm capable of the running, more a matter of motivating myself to get out now that the mornings and evenings have transitioned from warm, dry and bright to cold, wet and dark. but I've done it before so I know I'm capable of doing it again.

Joining mum (and dad) for drinks at the Shard. Dad wouldn't get that close to the window.

Bribery is almost certainly the way forward right now. The promise of a lovely warm and dry Body Balance class after a 6 miler on Thursday seemed to work and by promising a social run to Anita this evening meant I was forced to complete a solid 5 miles. Go me! Also my mum's chocolate coated ginger biscuits have meant I've had to run, purely to counteract their effects.

The biscuits in question... The last three...

I've been further inspired this week by the Leadership in Running Fitness course I took at the weekend. Not so much by the course material itself (I think I expected too much from it and was glad I already had qualifications behind me - anyone coming into it 'cold' would have struggled I think) but by the amazing people I got to talk to and bounce ideas off. My line manager, on signing my DBS forms confirming my identity, encouraged me to start a running group at work as there was "real appetite" for it. Food for thought!

I'm trying to resist the urge to plan my next phase of training, the phase that will happen after Gatliff, between December and February, and just focus on finishing off a couple of other projects first but I got a couple of new books last week that have gotten me all fired up. I often struggle to stay in the "now"...

It's not just biscuits I'm struggling with. What I was doing when I wasn't running on Wednesday.

But focus on the "now" I must, at least for this weekend, which promises to be an exciting one as I take part in my first duathlon! I'm all sorts of nervous but I've promised myself an afternoon of surf films on the sofa if I give it all I've got. There's that bribery in action again!

What have you got going on this weekend? Do you also employ bribery techniques to get out in the dismal weather?