Saturday 28 July 2018

A Training Roller Coaster

So much for good intentions to write regular blog updates as my training for the Autumn 100 progresses. To be honest I've been too busy training and dealing with a variety of crappy things life has thrown at me along the way.

It's been an interesting journey so far. Some of the strength work has been quite challenging but I've also found some new exercises that I really enjoy, in particular kettle bell swings and squats with an overhead press. A lot of muscles worked in a short space of time! Running has been a rocky ride with some hip flexor issues in February/March, and out of 6 races entered I've only been able to start 2 due to either niggles or childcare issues. It's proved more or less impossible to follow a training plan and because it's going to be hard to get any regular training done this coming month, I'm a little concerned that I've overcooked things and peaked too soon. Mileage has been fairly consistent since March however, so although I'm really not race-sharp, I've been able to hit 200 miles most months. Hopefully that consistency will be enough.

I've been out and recce'd most of the race route although as it's been so dry underfoot it probably bears little resemblance to what conditions will be like in October. At least I have a good idea of places where it's easy for me to miss turnings and also am now prepared for all those damn steps on leg 4! My biggest concern other than the sheer enormity of covering 100 miles on foot in one go is the running through the night bit. I've managed one overnight hike but that was in June with a mere 5 hours of proper dark. It was mostly quite fun except for the falling asleep on my feet, and actually the decision to hike rather than run at all turned out to be a good learning experience. Fast hiking 50-odd km is a darn sight harder than running! The DOMS over the next couple of days were shocking. Actually I'm also worried about the cows on leg 4. There's a field on the edge of Purley-on-Thames where on one recce the way through was completely blocked by some rather unfriendly cows. I don't want to get timed out just because of bolshie bovines.

The only other thing really is that I have had to retire from karate. Mostly it was a financial decision- I simply can't afford the training now- but also the fear of the contact side of it was becoming a problem and I'm not sure I could progress much further when I'm so scared of getting hurt (breaking another vertebra or a hip) and potentially never running again. I really miss the training although I don't miss the frustration of my body refusing to co-operate, or the brain melt-downs when I can't learn as quick as all the young ones do.

Stitching? Not an awful lot of that but I've knitted a few kittens and a uterus that looks a bit like Boris Johnson:

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