Lessons from Nature

Every day this week has been a day of two halves; gorgeous weather in the morning (when I'm running!) and miserable, cold, wet weather in the afternoon and evening. It's natures way of telling us to get up early....

Taper madness..

Last long run done for Rotterdam. Woohooo! Bring on the taper!! (You'd swear I didn't love runnning.......) ;-)

Cute chicks

Pressure...

In the spirit of trying to kill time with the kids off school, we've been baking cakes (simnel cake, apparently a traditional Easter cake), shopping for Easter clothes and been to see Horton Hears a Who. Loved it! That Dr. Seuss rhyming stuff is just so clever!

Thanks God they have Easter Camp at their school next week or I'd be driven mental. The days are way too long otherwise.

Three weeks to go till the Rotterdam marathon. At this stage I want it over and done with, it can't happen quick enough. I've done more long runs and trained harder than ever before. I've done lots of marathons but this is meant to be my fast one, so for the first time ever I'll be trying to put myself under some pressure. I'm probably putting myself under pressure just writing this down.....

Training....

I had a look on paper at what I'd been doing lately, training wise, and it looks like a lot when written down. I've probably not taken enough complete rest days recently. I think checking back over my training diary it has only been the last couple of weeks that were too much. Like instead of rest days I would swim or go to the gym or cycle, thinking they don't count as much because I'm not running. I suppose people who know me would say I never miss out on a training session, but for a few months I've been adding in other elements like the gym and not easing up on the running at all. It hasn't showed much in my long runs but when I run with other people or race I've noticed I'm not running as well.

This is all of my own doing. It's not part of any training plan by anybody but me. But really I think I just need a few "easy" days. With the kids being off school this week it'll probably mean an enforced easy week anyway.

I'm probably making much more of this than it actually is. I think that's because you always end up on a bit of a downer when running's not going as well as usual. I'll probably wake up tomorrow and wonder what I was on about...

Friday....

It's been a little crazy, lots happening with the kids; stressful things that take up lots of your thoughts. At least running gets me out on my own and clears the head. Training's going fine, doing tonnes of running/ swimming/ lifting weights but feeling tired mostly. I think I'm at the stage I always reach in every marathon training where I just wanna get the damn thing over with. I've done the training already, let's "bring it on". But of course I have another month to go. I always, at this stage, say things like "I want this training/ marathon over with and I want my life back" and then as soon as it is actually over, I go and enter the next one.

We had our annual family weekend away last week in Ballinasloe (by family I mean my siblings, I'm the youngest of 12). In order to get my long run out of the way I got Tony to turf me outta the car 20 miles from Ballinasloe (before Athlone) and I ran the rest of the way. It meant the weekend could be more enjoyable. It also meant I had 20 miles facing into a headwind (and sleet and snow and hail showers but that's the west for ya!)

Since I blogged last I've been to the blog awards, great fun! Met loads of people. Really enjoyed it! All I wanted was a photo in the TGU t-shirt and here it is.

Kids are now off for two weeks which will drive me mental cos I won't have the freedom to zip off to the gym each morning so there'll have to be a couple of days when I get up at 6am and go then. Just to keep me sane. My training plans for the year are possibly changing but more about that later.....

Happy Friday and St. Patrick's Weekend