So I'll start by admitting that I do get Stephen Ralston and David Powlson mixed up. I think I know the difference now but I always hold back from cheering them on just in case. In other cases of Eagles mistaken identity I have been confused with Fiona Moriaty on more than one occasion.
Anyway, back to my training, and after the high of finishing 2017 with my 50th parkrun I found myself spending New Year in bed with the dreaded lurgy. This was particularly disappointing since my training plan started on New Year's Day with the Serpentine 10k, a race I really enjoyed last year and was looking forward to.
Luckily I wasn't struck down as badly as many and I was back out for a gentle run by the Wednesday. However, this still meant I found myself working on a revised plan with coach Wei Hei before week 1 was out.
Wei Hei had had to work my plan around some booked races so my first long run was the Richmond Park 5k followed by extra miles in the park. It was good to have Wei Hei for company and the run felt pretty comfortable.
The following weekend we decided to start with parkrun and the run down to Chiswick bridge and back to get up to 9 miles. I was really pleased to have my long run buddy Che along for company. Coach asked me to do parkrun at marathon training pace and I must admit I wasn't quite slow enough despite clocking one of my worst times ever. I normally love all the encouragement from the marshalls but when they're shouting "nearly there!" when you have the rest of your long run still to it's a bit disconcerting.
When I first started discussing doing a marathon with Dan, we talked about training for one at the same time. However, I am now glad that he is not training as I got home from my long run to a delicious brunch all ready and waiting! I could get used to this!
Sadly this week, he was away all day on Saturday and I had to fend for myself. Wei Hei had proposed an 11 mile run from Paddington Station back to Northfields so, along with Che, we set out on the train on a wet and cold morning. After a couple of good runs this was to be a tough one for me. After a bit of a back problem in the week I found the run very painful and could happily have stopped at any point from about 4 miles onwards. My wonderful training buddies kept me going though the last few miles by talking about wonderful Caribbean destinations and the holiday plans I have made for post marathon relaxation and, through the art of distraction, I completed the run. Thanks Ladies ,I couldn't have done it without you! A wave from Ronan in the last half mile helped too.
Unfortunately I had to cook my own eggs when I got home this week. I will have to have words with my husband.
