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.