What a strange week it has been. I carried the momentum of week one’s success forward and started with a trail run in Richmond Park. Running in RP is always an enjoyable experience, the discovery of the woodland trail paths was a big plus and will now be my route of choice instead of the horse track which is quite simply a pain in the calves. Although, it was not all Roses in horse poo though – The British army were on some sort of exercise, so cold, wet and still a little sore from the Previous Saturday’s run, I wasn’t overly confident about running within eye and earshot of a bunch of squaddies in full battledress with packs…. Regardless, I finished the run and it felt good. Unfortunately the week went a little downhill after that.

I have been working nights most of the week. In the past that hasn’t been an issue but in the past I didn’t have to travel all over London for work. So, I only made it to the Gym once this week, and only for a 25 minute swim – better than nothing I know, but I was mean’t to go twice and I am also a run down this week, I managed 2 runs prior to my LSR but was aiming for 3.

At the beginning of my LSR I began to question what the hell I was doing – I read earlier this week – in a blog I think – about the trappings of getting inside your own head. Well, I got inside my own head – maybe it was the boring piece of road I was running on, maybe it was the urgent need to pee (again? Seriously!  How.Many.Times.Do.I.Need.To.Pee.Before.A.Long.Run). Quite possibly it was the sleep deprivation. Night shifts are a killer and after what feels like a constant stream of night work for the last fortnight, plus the extra training sometimes staying awake is like running a half marathon – I would say full marathon but I haven’t run one of those yet. I soldiered on though and once I entered Bushy Park my monologue of despair was overwritten by the joy of running in the Royal Parks. Apart from the wonderful scenery, the lack of cars and the easy paths, the joy of Royal Parks is they have decent (and open) toilet facilities so I was able to address my bladder also.

This week, I learn’t that sometimes one cannot stick to the training plan and that ultimately when training for distance the important thing is to put in the miles. I plan to get a swim in tomorrow but I am working overnight so if I don’t I will not beat myself up.

The trail run is 9 weeks away, I have two 60 mile cycles 4 and 7 weeks away – busy times ahead. I would finally like to direct you all to a blog I read this week about – well – exercise.

Keep runnin’