A Long Ladder, One Rung at a Time!

And another week is over - where do they keep going? 

So, I've spent the first few days of the week ruminating and trying to figure out how I can manage what, for me, is such a daunting experience of a 50 week training plan.  I guess, quite simply, that it very much needs to be a case of taking things one step at a time.  One Marathon at a time.  One week at a time.  One run at a time!  Now that I've managed to convince myself that this is the way forward, I'm feeling pretty good about things.  My mother on the other hand actually questioned whether I should be really doing this!  (Incidentally, my mother will also be the first person to cry with pride after each hurdle has been jumped, so to speak.)

This has also been helped by the fact that I randomly bumped into an old colleague from over a decade ago on Saturday who amazingly runs what I call ULTRA-ultra races (100 milers) at least twice if not thrice a year!  Such an inspiration and well, if he can do what he does, then why can't I manage a year of marathons?  With this in mind, I'm SO excited for Milan and am suddenly wishing the next 7 weeks away!

I've been really good this week and have managed to clock up 24.5 miles on what is my down time week as I have the children at home with me (except for Thursday) and hence have limited training time.

Monday - 3 easy (very easy) miles just to keep my legs moving after the 16 mile run the day before.
Tuesday - Work, meetings and then being mummy.
Wednesday - All on the treadmill but a nicely controlled 5 mile run in 37.45 mins (this is pretty fast by my standards so I'm really pleased with this) directly after work and before collecting the girls at 5.30pm.
Thursday - I ran with my friend Sheryl, a very simple route just short of 9 miles to and from work via Westley Estate, Fornham All Saints and Fornham St Martin.  I really enjoyed this.  We only averaged 8.45/mile but it was a decent run that put some 'junk' miles in and enabled me to run again on Friday straight after work.  I planned on running for an hour solid and managed to get 7.8 miles completed in this time (really pleased given that I'd had decent runs for 3 nights running).  I suspect that so many of you see this is hardly an achievement at all but I can assure you, my legs were absolutely shattered on Saturday!  Fortunately it was a weekend of no running whatsoever although the girls and I did marshal at the Tarpley 10/20 event this morning. A superb event which saw some amazing finishing times!  Despite the tired legs, to say I was itching to compete was somewhat of an understatement!  All in all, I've been very lucky to manage my workload in the evenings this week and still get a few miles in.

HOWEVER, I'm now needing a longer run at some point this week but still need to work around the children/work.  My plan for the week:
Monday - meetings after work, zero miles! :o(
Tuesday (no children) - I'm working until 6pm and then am out but hoping to get a 10km gym run in.
Wednesday (no children) - 10-11 miles on the road
Thursday morning - if my legs are awake and moving, I may be able to get a couple of miles in before work.  We'll see!
Friday - zero miles, just hoping for a well needed maintenance massage!
Saturday - this is my big run day!  My schedule says that I should be running 16 miles but I'd quite like to get a longer one in to compensate for my lack of distance over the past 7 days.  There is another local 20 mile race this coming Sunday but playing mum again so I'm limited to running on Saturday instead... I think I need to convince people that they may wish to give me some cycle support just to keep my mind occupied! 

I'm hoping that I may be able to total 35-40 miles this week; hoping be the operative word!

So, in my own geeky way, I've been playing with my excel spreadsheet that has my year mapped out on it on two sheets: the 'ideal' and the 'reality'.  So far, the reality is mirroring the ideal quite nicely.  I suspect that as this term progresses, this may not stay true for that much longer but I remain forever hopeful!

I also know that there's a slight inferiority complex in place when I consider the exceptional times of many of today's race finishers.  I just need to remind myself that (a) I've only ever been a mediocre runner and (b) I don't have the innate gift for running that some have and (c) I choose to fit my running around the children and home whereby I cannot just 'pop out for a run' on most days... so inferior as my accomplishments may be, they're still my accomplishments and that's what I'm holding onto but will remain in absolute awe of those that want to, can do and do. 

Update 2 and I'm already fretting!

Good evening!  So, Sunday night and the end of my half-term has been reached!  Back to the madness of military motherhood/work routines as of 6am on Monday morning.  I say this however knowing that the 'daily grind' so to speak enables me and my world to function at a happy and productive pace with familiar and welcomed routines.

Anyway, my week as was:
I've been pretty lucky this week and have been able to work to the schedule that I had wanted and could knowingly fit into my life.
Monday @7am, 2 mile slow jog after a long run the day before - before collecting the children at 8am.
Tuesday morning when the girls were at a club - some intense interval treadmill training. 
1 mile slow (8.30 pace), 10 x 800m at 7.30 reducing to 7.20 pace followed by 200m jogs (10 min miles), 1 mile slow (8.45 pace).  Felt good!  The gym is definitely the preferred option here as it enables me to control my the pace in a way that I never really manage on the road.
I didn't have the girls on Tuesday evening so hit the gym at 6am on Wednesday morning for a solid 5 miler at an overall average of 7.45 pace... for those of you who are about to shoot me down for using the gym for a simple run - I'm scared of the dark, end of story!  Ready and finished to collect the girls at 8am for a day of motherly fun!  :o)
I didn't do anything on Thursday... oh it was so nice!
As I said in my last post, this has been an easy week for me and the children in that they get a couple of full days with their dad by spending their weekend with him.  As much as I miss them, it also enabled me to focus on the miles.  So on Friday evening (just as it was getting dark) and again on Saturday morning, I ran a simple 4 mile loop around Moreton Hall.  Slow, short and easy.  Average of around 8.30 min/mile - quite hard to keep it this slow for such a short run as my natural pace is faster but wanted to save my legs for Sunday.
And the grand finale of my week was the added bonus of being able to run with a few of the Pacers from the Leisure Centre on Sunday morning.  When so many Pacers had taken to the Bungay XC for the day, I just wanted to put miles in on the road.  Several of us were turned up today running anything between 12 and 19 miles - I had wanted to run 16 and managed 16.1 (special thanks goes to Peter for going over the 14 mile mark and running just over 15 - this extra few minutes of company was great for my own mind set.  I only then had to run just under a mile on my own to complete my own personal target for the day).    My average pace today was 8min48/mile.  This is ok and what I had planned.  I know I'm capable of so much better than this but I need to keep reminding myself that it's about the distance on these long runs and to concentrate only on the miles for now.

A well loved cup of tea, flap-jack at the leisure centre followed by what felt like my own body weight in food: Mars milk drink, cheese on toast, fruit, jaffa-cakes and a lots of fluid were all taken within minutes of arriving home - then b*gger to the ice bath, I had a lovely hot one! Girls arrived home this afternoon - nice to see them and just enjoy them!  Tonight once they were in bed was a focus on getting ready for the week ahead at work.

So, I've totalled 38 miles of running this week which was what I had hoped for.  I definitely have deadlegs.com and a realisation that in 8 weeks from now I'll be running 26.2 miles which is more than 10 miles longer than today's little effort.  Worse still, that's just the opening gambit for a full year of this!  So, this dawning of what is to be has hit me and the fretting has begun.  That said - I've said I'm doing it, I've committed pen to paper in the computerised metaphorical sense and bring it on!  Only 8 weeks to Milan, my first of the year of running but am also thinking beyond Milan and the next adventures - more to follow on that one.

This week is going to be particularly difficult: Back at work with lots of evening work including a parents' open evening on the one night that I don't have the girls for the next 7 days (Thursday).  My plan therefore is as follows:

Monday after work before collecting the girls - to try and get 2 slow miles by running around the school field.  I'll probably be at the track but only in the capacity of taking my eldest there (youngest is still too young to join.  I've well and truly primed her for joining when she turns 6).
Tuesday - Nothing, meetings dictate this... although if the energy levels are up, I'll try to get some Sky TV yoga in once the chidren are in bed.
Wednesday - Meeting/work dependent, I may be able to get 5 miles in on the school treadmill/school field. Not sure whether I can make this interval training as I need some good reserves for Thursday night.
Thursday - I may be able to get to the gym for about 8pm and run for 8 miles - I hope.
Friday - I could probably squeeze 5 miles/10km in straight after work before collecting the girls.
Saturday - Mum day!
Sunday - Mum day and marshalling for the Tarpley 10/20 with the girls. 
All in all this is going to be an absolute maximum of 20 or so miles,highly likely to be less. This is, however the worst week in every 3 and perhaps this 'down time' will be good for my overall recovery.

I genuinely wonder how people who, like me, are not professional athletes are physically able to put in 70-80 miles each week when training.  Where do they find the hours to do so? Full credit to them and to anyone who is training for any Marathon - it's no mean feat to actually commit yourself to a training schedule.  :o)

I'm just getting started!

Right, so, now it's February and my plan for the year is underway or rather THE plan is underway!

After a difficult 2011, me being me, I needed a focus.  Something to distract me from my over active imagination and thoughts; something for me to look forward to; something that will challenge me at a level that I haven't tackled before and something for me.  What to do?  What to do?  Well, I guess the reality is that all I can do is run.

You see, I'm a mediocre middle to long distance runner.  I run.  Usually 2-3 times per week, anything from 4-7 miles if I'm not in training and a little more often, longer and harder if I am.  I've ran a marathon before (back in 2005, survived it), several half-marathons over the years including a couple towards the back end of 2011 but I'm by no means a manic runner who lives for the next race.  Running IS however the one thing that I can honestly say puts my world into perspective.  It IS the only thing that turns my fuzzy, stressed and irrational woman's head into a grateful, pleasant and understanding mind!

Let's also be clear that in addition to being a runner, I'm also a bl**dy busy woman!  I'm first and foremost a mother and a single mother at that.  Two wonderful girls, aged 5 and 10.  Old enough to be able to dress themselves and young enough to demand (sap?) my attention and energy.  I am also a full time teacher and head of department at a large and successful high school (I love my job!).  I have a large (massive in fact) family with lots of brothers, sisters, nephews and nieces who all, in their own lovely ways, also manage to take up my thoughts and attention from time to time... as families should do!  SO, in between mothering, teaching, the seemingly endless list of clubs that my children throw themselves into and actually keeping my home looking lovely in the anal-fashion that I'm used to, there's very little time left over.

Anyway, back to the plan!  Amongst all of the above, I need a running plan... which is.... lots and lots of running, all ultimately aiming at an ultra-race at the end of November.  This year I plan on running 5-6 full marathons throughout Europe and the UK and finishing with the Hereward Relays (Cambridgeshire) although I won't be taking part in the relay, merely running the entire 40-odd mile distance on my tod.

The first of the Marathons take place on 15th April: the Milano City Marathon, Milan, Italy.  Now that I've entered, I'm too excited for words! (Although slighly cr*pping myself too!).  I only entered this last week which gave me 10 weeks of training (this is ok, I've been running like a nutter throughout January!) just to get me through the first Marathon hurdle. 

My schedule for this week:
I ran 14.5 miles on Sunday (VERY slowly, 9 minute miles, a good minute or so slower than my usual pace) with the wonderful help from my sister-in-law who kept my company by riding her bike next to me.  The girls stayed with their gran for a couple of hours and drew me pictures!  After a lazy afternoon with a DVD (thank goodness that the girls were tired after a busy half-term, I didn't have much in me to run around with them), I had recovered reasonably well.  They stayed at their dad's last night but I had to collect them at 8am as he's a farmer and needed to tend to the pigs... so I ran TWO (I'm so rock and roll) slow miles at 7am this morning - my legs liked it less than my tired head did! 

It's also half-term this week so I have a couple of hours in the morning where the girls are at a club, I plan on trying to run on the treadmill a good 7-8 miles tomorrow... I'll see how my legs go!  I'm also quite lucky that this is an easy week in terms of the farm so the girls get a few evenings with their dad... I'll milk this in terms of running at every opportunity.  Always so much harder during my working week and/or their dad's busy farming weeks.  In addition to Tuesday's longer run, I'll also try to run for 30 minutes on Weds morning before collecting the girls again, 30-35 slow minutes on Saturday followed by a 15/16 miler on Sunday.  I've recently started running with a local team but can only really make it once every 3 or so weeks as I have the children at home with me but it's SO much easier when in the company of others.  It's lonely being a long distance runner sometimes.

Anyway, so my plan for the week will probably amount to approximately 35-40 miles between Monday and Sunday.  This is, as is everything in my world, subject to change at the very last minute but it's my goal and my short term aim - as part of my longer term (which is, in turn, part of my VERY long term) plan.

If you're interested... Wish me luck!