Wind, rain, mud, rain, wind....and repeat...and repeat...and repeat...

Monday 10th Feb: walk 3 miles, spin 45 min, core work
Tuesday 11th Feb: run 3 miles, circuit training 1 hour, run 3 miles
Wednesday 12th Feb: run 7.5 miles, walk 3 miles
Thursday 13th Feb: rest
Friday 14th Feb: run 21 miles
Saturday 15th Feb: rest
Sunday 16th Feb: rest
Total: 40.5 miles

Reduced the miles a bit this week, because all of the programs I've seen say you should take it a bit easier every few weeks to give your body a chance to recover. Didn't really feel like I needed a rest, but thought it would be best to follow the advice of what's gone before. Don't want an injury at this point, thank you very much. 

Actually, I think my default is setting is set at lazy. Totally enjoyed a weekend off running. Even at Andrew's house which is by the Regents Canal, with hundreds of people are walking/ cycling past every minute, I couldn't be stirred into a single feeling of guilt about sitting around eating tonnes of lovely food and drinking wine, whilst not joining the people running past.  

 

Then felt ashamed of myself this morning, so got back on the training plan, pronto. Also had a minor panic attack that the race is only 54 days away. DAYYYYS!!!! Oh my days. 

This week was a sad week. My Nike watch is no more. It has ceased to be. Popped it's clogs. A goner. I think the weather was too much for it. It got a leak, got all wet inside the screen, and switched itself off, forevermore. Sad times, we've been a long way together, that watch and I :-( But, Nike are going to replace it!  Hurrah! Although I will miss my original, first ever, GPS birthday gift :-( 

Also this week my parents bought me new trainers! In time to wear them in before the race. Look. The're so white they could almost blind you. 

Which brings me on to my next point. The Weather. How long do you reckon they're gonna stay looking like this?

0.0000025 seconds after leaving the house, in the current (boringly prolonged) weather conditions.

Now, I am fully aware that I have absolutely NOTHING to complain about weather-wise, or much else wise for that matter. In fact, the only effect that this latest weather palaver has had on my life really was when I got the train to London last week, and they had cancelled the service down to one train an hour, but I ended up getting to London actually earlier than I was supposed to. So I feel a bit bad complaining about it, bearing in mind all of the people who have lost an awful lot.  

But, I'm just going to have a tiny rant, which do please feel free to ignore. I AM SICK OF THE WEATHER!!! WHEN IS IT GOING TO STOP RAINING?!?! ENOUGH ALREADY OKAY!!! 

OK. Breath. Over. Feeling better after all the capital letters and excessive punctuation. 

Really though, Wednesday night running club run was absolutely the worst weather that I have ever run in, I think actually in my whole entire life. Absolute shocker. Left uni about 5.30 and it was raining and windy, but pretty standard really, nothing unusual there. By the time I got there I had narrowly avoided being hit by a large branch, I was soaked through to the skin, and there was a full blown storm going on with wheely bins and pizza boxes flying round (the glamour). I was all up for going home (lazy-o-meter alert), but running club is on the way home, so I compromised, and decided to go in on the way, to assure myself no one else was mad enough to be out for running, so I could go home guilt free. I underestimated my running friends. They were there, trainered-up, ready to go. So, off we went. 7.5 miles of, um, I'm not sure exactly how hard the wind was blowing in all that technical 'miles per hour/ gale force x stuff', so I'll just go for a more descriptive description - we got blown off the pavements, blown backwards, pushed forwards, hell yeah l I'm sure we were even flying at some points! Rain hitting our faces so hard it was like pieces of glass being thrown at us. Entire clothes soaked through to the skin in ice-cold water. Oh yeah! Oh, I also actually got hit by a branch this time. But just a small one. Got back to the club and I was so cold I couldn't move my hands enough to get changed for a whole 10 minutes. Just sat there in wet clothes. But wow, what a night! OK, if I'm honest it was pretty uncomfortable running in it, but it felt like we were a real team battling against the true rage of nature! Ha. If we can run in that, we can do anything! 42 miles is a breeze! Well hopefully not too strong a breeze. But anyway, let us hope for only a whisper of a breeze, and no rain (absolutely no rain, thank you) on 12th and 13th April.