Week commencing 1st February

Posted at 14:31 on Feb 25, 2010 by Michelle White

This week knowing that I have a difficult work week – I’m working seven days in a row – I sit down with my diary on Sunday night and pencil in all the gaps I can identify in order to fit in at least 3 runs. This feels terribly organised and I am rather pleased at my pre-planning skills.

All is slightly hampered when I wake up the next morning to do my 7am 50 minute run and it has snowed- AGAIN.  I must confess I am finding training for the marathon during one of the coldest winters on recent record extremely frustrating. It looks slippery but I don my trainers and run anyway in a fit of pique.  As observed, it is slippery and doesn’t feel safe underfoot so I complete half and hour and trot back home – it’s all very unsatisfactory. The next day I retreat to the gym and following my pilates class complete an hour on the treadmill. I challenge myself with a programme of uphill runs and sprints – so I feel I’m back on track somewhat.  I next manage to squeeze in a morning run on Thursday. It’s a 7am and I’m aiming to do a 45-minute training session interspersing sprints with a slower pace.  One thing I am feeling very encouraged by is how quickly my fitness levels are improving overall thanks to the different types of running sessions I am now undertaking.  These include, hill runs. long runs, interval runs, threshold runs and steady runs – all of which are combining to offer a challenging and varied programme.

Frustratingly this week I am unable to undertake my long run due to long working hours at the weekend. This throws me into a panic, as I am convinced if I deviate from my programme by any tiny degree I will not be ready come April. Just as I am planning to get up at 4am on Sunday to complete a 2 hour run I read a really useful article on marathon training which promotes taking a more relaxed attitude to your programme and shaping your training to fit your life – let’s call it the more balanced approach.  This resonates with me as I have been struggling with the work/training seesaw and I endeavour to be more flexible in future. The 4am run never materialises (thank god) and I feel motivated to look at my training programme with a fresh eye next week and adapt it where necessary.

Next week: I meet up with Sports Nutritionist Lynn Clay