Good morning and I hope everyone who reads this had an amazing weekend. Apologies, I’m aware that I’m repeating myself and I need to come up with some new introductory sentences. My new job is so technically demanding, by the time I write my weekly update, my brain is barely functioning.

My weekend had a couple of highlights; having a go at the volunteer coordinator role at my local parkrun and an enjoyable Sunday morning interval session.

The second week of my Couch to Half Marathon training plan looked like this…

In theory it should have been nice and simple. I mean let’s face it; anyone can run for two minutes can’t they..?

So, how did I get on during the second week of my Couch to Half Marathon training? Did I manage to avoid the office lurgy? Did I manage to drag myself out of bed? Did I manage to assemble the exercise bike I bought?

Monday – Rest

I don’t think there’s much I can really say about Monday. I worked from home so started the week with a sneaky lie-in. I had a productive day and managed to get on top of my time recording and some pre-training course work. Seeing my ugly mug on the homepage of the Intranet at work felt a little strange, judging by the emails I received, not many people had come across the concept of ‘plogging’. I finished working at 4:00pm and spent an enjoyable couple of hours cooking.

Tuesday – 30 mins intervals (Run 1 min/Walk 2 mins x 10)

I woke at 3:30am and thanks to some work-related concerns struggled to get back to sleep. It got so bad, I seriously considered heading out for my interval session at 4:30am. I have no idea when I eventually got to sleep but when my alarm woke me at 5:30am I felt shattered. Predictably, work was a little on the challenging side, I don’t think I’ve ever felt so relieved to leave work and to start the commute back home. I got home at 4:30pm, made myself a cup of tea and then headed to bed for a nap. I felt so tired I didn’t even unpack the exercise bike that had been delivered while I was at work.

Three hours later I felt a little more human. I dragged the so-called lightweight exercise bike up the stairs and into the spare room and then got changed into some running gear. I didn’t want to leave the house but knew it was very much a case of now or never. I didn’t want to miss the first training session of only the second week of my training plan. I know what I’m like, once I start skipping training sessions then its game over.

I woke up during the five-minute ‘warm-up’ walk, and after some serious Garmin button pressing; I tracked down the interval setting and was ready to run. I’d love to be able to report that the 30-minute interval session went well but it didn’t. I felt lethargic from the start and running challenging. I was wearing too many layers and my right foot felt a little niggly. The second week of my training plan hadn’t got off to the most positive start.

Wednesday – 30 mins cross training

Thanks to the Intranet at work, the highlight of the day was meeting up with and spending lunch with someone I worked with 10 years ago. I always find it amazing when people look exactly the same as they did 10 years ago. I look like I’m nearing 50 rather than 40, completing a PhD left me with grey hair and some impressive squinting at a computer screen all day lines on my face. Anyway, I enjoyed the short walk into the centre of Solihull and spending some time away from the office and will hopefully be able to meet up with Sarah again. What was left of the day flew by and thanks to a ‘sprint’ between Birmingham Moor Street and New Street stations I made it home at 4:30pm.

Now I’m sure that most sensible people would have at least made an effort to remove the exercise bike from the huge cardboard box it was delivered in. I think it’s pretty safe to say I’m not at all sensible and the exercise bike remained in the box. I mean, why spend 30-minutes on an exercise bike when I can spend 30-minutes walking up and down the stairs at home and hate every second? The whole point of buying the exercise bike was to avoid walking up and down the stairs. Sometimes I have to question my decision-making skills.

Thursday – Rest

Once again, I was wide awake at 3:00am and felt shattered when my alarm woke me at 5:30am. Had I not left my laptop in my locker at work, I would have probably worked from home again. Work was work, there’s not a lot more I can say. I spent most of the day struggling to complete what should have been basic hydrology assessments. I escaped the office at 3:30pm and 15 minutes later found myself navigating my way past a load of Peaky Blinders themed merchandise to the top floor of the world’s biggest Primark. Primark shopping mission completed, I headed back to Birmingham New Street, managed to force my way through the crowds and onto a train and got home at 5:00pm.

I felt so tired, I headed up to bed for yet another post-work lengthy power nap. So much for making the most of my evenings! I didn’t feel great after my nap so I’m a little ashamed to admit that I recorded my first ‘missed’ interval session. I wasn’t too concerned knew I was working from home the following day and would have more time to run in the morning or lunchtime. I laid out my running gear, programmed the interval session on my Garmin, and then headed back to bed.

Friday – 28 mins intervals (Run 2 min/Walk 2 mins x 7)

When my alarm woke me at 5:30am I knew that I needed to have a productive day. I got out of bed, got dressed and made a start at tackling the pile of washing that had built up during the week. Once I felt reasonably confident the washing machine was working, I headed out into the dark and made a start on the second interval session of the week. I found running for two minutes at a time more challenging than I thought I would. I’m not sure if I was attempting to run a little too quickly, but by only the third running interval I was struggling. I must have worked quite hard as my face was doing an impressive impression of a beetroot for most of the morning.

I’m aware that this weekly update has the potential to turn into another essay so I won’t bore you all to tears with details of what was an incredibly dull Friday. When the highlight of a day is making good progress on a ‘things to do list’ you know it was not really blogworthy.

Saturday – 30 mins cross training

I managed to convince my friend to drive me to parkrun so I had much-needed a lie-in. Now that the mornings are getting darker I’m a little worried about volunteering. I don’t like the idea of walking across Sutton Park in the dark, it’s scary enough when it’s light! Enough negativity, the gate had been unlocked and Sutton Park looked gorgeous in the September sunshine. I discovered a new favourite volunteering role; volunteer coordinator. I loved chatting to all the volunteers as they arrived, everyone turned up so I was able to take on my second role; barcode support. I’ve still got no idea how I failed to notice Rob when he’d finished. If you are reading this, sorry Rob!!

The rest of the afternoon was quite mundane. I gave up following the Wolves match at halftime and they had allowed Chelsea to score three times. This turned out to be the right decision. I unpacked the exercise bike, looked at the instructions and the various parts I was somehow meant to put together and decided to wait until I had adult supervision. I scheduled a couple of blog posts and finished drafting out my objectives for work.

Blog related chores completed, I popped into TK Maxx in Birmingham. I wanted to check out their selection of running leggings and Halloween merchandise. TK Maxx was full of loads of tempting bits and pieces. I was reasonably restrained in the sports gear section and only bought a pair of plain black running leggings. I also treated myself to a jumper and a short sleeved top in the red sticker sale. The journey home was entertaining as I was one of the few sober people on the train.

Sunday – 3 miles (Run 1 min/Walk 2 mins)

I’d rather ambitiously set my alarm for 6:00am, however, when I saw how dark it was outside, I decided to treat(?) myself to an extra hour in bed. Once again, I left the house wearing two Garmins; one was set to measure time and distance and the other one was in interval mode. I felt a bit self-conscious but reminded myself that no one else would even notice I was wearing two watches.

The interval session wasn’t great. My legs felt tired and the inside of my right foot quite niggly. The first couple of strides of each running interval were the most painful; I was reminded that stopping and starting doesn’t seem to suit my fragile body. I was quite relieved when I reached three miles and could start my walk back home. I don’t think there’s anything seriously wrong with my foot as it doesn’t hurt when I’m not running. When I had a stress fracture I couldn’t even walk as it was so painful. However, if the pain continues I’ll start experimenting with a new pair of insoles then a new pair of trainers.

I’ve just had a sneaky peek and the third week of my Couch to (hopefully!) Half Marathon training plan looks achievable. The main difference is in the duration of the running intervals which increases from one to two minutes. The run on Sunday increases from three to four miles. I need to find someone to help me assemble my exercise bike ASAP!

Training totals

• Runs: 6
• Time: 3 hrs 11 mins
• Distance: 15.36 miles

Niggleometer

• Right knee: 2/10
• Right foot: 3/10

Did you have a good weekend? Did you take part in any races? I’ve just realised that I’ve completed the not so grand total of one organised event this year. My medal collection for 2019 is looking a little underwhelming.

Do you think I’ll manage to assemble the exercise I bought last weekend? At the moment I think it’s 50:50. I’m not the best at DIY and fear that project exercise bike may be a little too challenging.

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