Changing Focus for Autumn

Much as I have loved travelling, running and being sociable it's been nice to get home and back into the rhythm of life as I now know it.

The nights are drawing in now but I'm treated to lovely night skies as I leave the gym.

Turns out it takes quite a while to travel to and from Bordeaux by car so we'd split it over two days, meaning that I didn't get home until late on Monday night. Spending the two days after a marathon mainly sitting in a car isn't the best way to recover really and I was feeling a bit fidgety come Tuesday so it was nice to make up numbers at RunFit and take part in the intervals set, all be it at a slightly more sedate pace than my gang.

It wasn't until Thursday that I got out for a proper run of any sort and my legs rebelled. I set out to run as far as I wanted to, at whatever pace was necessary which turned out to be fairly slow. Knees and hips were fine but shins started to complain and the 2.5 miles took a lot of effort to complete.  After this weekend I've got no more races of note booked until the New Year so I'm taking the opportunity to do a little less running and do more strength and conditioning work. The running I do will be more focused and I'll be taking part in more classes at the gym as well as doing my own sessions to build strength. I started as I mean to go on with metafit, yoga and a Strength and conditioning class last week, all of which I enjoyed even if they weren't easy. The yoga was especially good for my poor runner's body.

My "free" time last week was spent planning sessions, classes and my own training and getting stuck into some books that I bought with the money my old company gave me as a leaving gift.

Always learning! The answer... it depends on your goal.

My diet has been atrocious recently. Of course there was a lot of cheese and wine in France and although I have eschewed cake since Tiree I seem to have replaced this with biscuits and chocolate. This simply will not do. My meals are getting under control, with a return to smoothies )made even better with my new smoothie blender) and fruity porridge for breakfasts, salad-heavy lunches and veg-laden dinners, but it's the snacking/desserts that are letting me down so this week I'm focusing more on resisting those and watching out for the triggers that set off my cravings. It's so easy to eat well really, given how much fruit and veg I'm getting from the allotment, hedgerows and in my veg box.

Last week's activity looked like this:
Monday: Rest day
Tuesday: Rest day
Wednesday: Rest day
Thursday: 25 minute run, metafit
Friday: Rest day
Saturday: Parkrun, yoga class
Sunday: Strength & Conditioning class

What is your fitness focus for Autumn? Have you been struggling with an aspect of your diet recently?