Marathon training update

Me, at the 2013 MK marathon

I am thinking I ought to be feeling a bit nervous now, the MK marathon is not too far away now.  IN fact it's early May i.e. less than two months away.  I am also looking forward to it which probably sounds a little mixed up.  Here's what's going on:

The positives

• Looking back I have throughly enjoyed running this race before.  The best time was in 2013 when I came in just under 4 hours.  Now I know that's nothing too special but for me it was quite a lift
• I regularly run 10 miles on a Saturday morning, with a couple of shorter runs in the week
• I like the challenge.
• I like the optimism of this time of year: daylight is growing each day and winter is gradually being left behind.  I like being outdoors to enjoy it.  I like being able to leave work with some lingering daylight left - this means I can do a 5 mile run which includes Fairlands Park in Stevenage.
• I have some new shoes.
• I am a little overweight so I'll be able to burn this off easier now.  When I say I'm overweight, this is by my reckoning.  Don't worry, I'm not actually overweight in terms of my BMI (as I'm in the middle of my BMI range) but I FEEL OVERWEIGHT.  I can tell I can put on 6 or 7lbs in the last 6 months.
• Because it's always good to have a challenge in my diary lined up: this keeps me focussed and stops me drifting too much.

The negatives

• I have an injury, the worst I have had since becoming a runner.  It is a strain in one of my calf muscles (see post below).  I am hoping I can run enough to stay fit and build up the mileage without making it any worse.  My new shoes will help.
• I feel overweight.
• Finding the time is a struggle.
• I need to build up the long run distances - 12miles, 14miles, 16miles, 18miles and 20 miles and then maintain for a week or so before tapering.  While I love the thought of that, finding the time is a challenge.
• I have hardly cycled at all this year.

More on finding the time

Life is pretty busy and I quite like this but nevertheless it is sometimes a juggle and compromise from day to day.  Family life mustn't be neglected, neither must work.

Work is demanding for me with the never ending changes in my bit of the justice system.  Talk about "more for less" and how than intensifies more each year it would seem.  Some of my colleagues are taking voluntary redundancy as there was an enhanced scheme which they took advantage of.  This might open up again soon, although I'm not completely sure.  I am also not sure what I would do, job wise, should I take redundancy (any offers out there?).  

I have recently become a school governor.  This is a voluntary position and one I hope I could do well over the next few years.  I have good experience, from an officer perspective, of reporting to a Board and being scrutinised left, right and centre.

My second stint of jury service coming up at the Coroner's Court later this week.  It is an important and responsible thing for anyone who is called (i.e. summoned) to do this; having a jury made up of lay members of the public is an important part of our justice system.  I am pleased it is with the Coroner's Court as I have no professional experience of this at all.

Spending time with my family is a joy.  Seeing Becky & Hannah grow, mature and flourish is a wonderful thing.  Their lives are becoming more independent, demanding and fast moving these days.  I keep wanting to press the pause button or at least to slow it down a little - life is flashing by so fast.

Blogging

Oh how I wish I could spend a little more time talking to you out there.  I wish I could spend more time only blogs as they are also serving the purpose of being a personal diary for me.  When I run, I have so many thoughts and ideas about different blog posts but I rarely have enough time to get them all posted.  I do enjoy blogging and it has become a vital part of my life nowadays, certainly an intrinsic part of running and staying healthy.  I'm not too bothered that the page view stats have become lower these days - it's not about blogging to see how high the stats go.  No, it's about recording some of my own running and healthy living journey for my benefit and also other people's as well.