As always, I hope that whoever reads this had an amazing weekend and thanks to a slightly farcical start to the working week; Monday. I had another relatively quiet weekend as I’m still not feeling great. Thanks to everyone who shared updates from Chicago; I’ve decided that if I attempt one more marathon it will be Chicago.

My weekend highlights included a spot of parkrun volunteering followed by far, far too much food in Bistrot Pierre and my first Sunday lunch for a while. I’d forgotten how much I love home cooked food.

The sixth week of my Couch to Half Marathon training plan looked like this.

All of the training sessions looked achievable; I just needed to recover from my seemingly never-ending, incredibly persistent dose of the office lurgy.

So, how did I find week six of my Couch to Half Marathon training plan? Did I manage to complete any of my training sessions? Did I actually use my exercise bike? Did I recover from my cough and cold?

Monday – Rest

The week got off to a positive start as I was able to work from home. I’m aware that I’m repeating myself but I love being able to work from home as I seem to get a lot more done. Having said that, I do find being on my own all day a little difficult as I’m reminded of feeling isolated during the final year of my PhD. And I wonder why people call me ‘contrary Mary’.

The only downside to working from home was the seemingly never-ending stream of social media posts about the London Marathon ballot. I don’t know who created these cartoons so apologies for the lack of credit, but thanks for the break from the online angst!

Tuesday – Rest

Is anyone else finding the dark mornings difficult? I find the whole concept of travelling to work in the dark a little weird, I’m sure my brain thinks it’s the evening and I should be heading back home and not into the office. I obviously can’t say too much on here, but work was a bit of a nightmare. I’m not sure if it was because I wasn’t feeling great, the office was so noisy I found it almost impossible to concentrate on the technical assessment I was trying to complete. I found the noise a little overwhelming, even my cheesy 80s music failed to drown out the noise in the office.

I had a great journey home as my running buddy Ellen who I hadn’t seen for a while spotted me at Birmingham New Street and we spent the 30-minute journey home chatting. I got home, made myself a cup of tea and pretty much instantly fell asleep. I should have completed an interval session but decided not to risk running when I wasn’t feeling very well. I figured its only week six of my training plan and I have plenty of time to get my training back on track when I’m feeling better.

Wednesday – Rest

The office was far quieter and I managed to get a lot of work done. I’m aware that this weekly update is already turning into an essay so to summarise my day went something like walk, train, train, work, lunch, work, train, train, walk, snooze, food and sleep. I didn’t dust off my exercise bike.

Thursday – Rest

With the exception of getting my flu jab done, Thursday wasn’t a positive day. I spent a little too long dwelling on events of the last 10 years and thinking about the mistakes I’d made. I cried a couple of times and struggled to concentrate on the simplest of work related tasks. Sorry Geoff!

After a frustrating day, I switched off my laptop and headed into Sutton Coldfield to have a look in TK Maxx and to have my flu jab. I got excited in TK Maxx when I spotted some jeans which looked like they might be long enough for my legs; they weren’t, but just for a moment I got to feel hopeful. As for the flu jab; I was in and out of Boots in a matter of minutes. The injection itself only cost £12.99 and was completely pain free. The pharmacist sent me away with an information sheet and said the top of my arm may feel a little heavy for a couple of days. I’m ashamed to admit that I didn’t even attempt my training session when I got home but spent what was left of the evening tackling the mountain of washing that had built up during the week.

Friday – Rest

Heading into the office on a Friday felt a little alien to me, but I had my midyear review so couldn’t work from home. The Wallingford office used to be deserted on Fridays, the third floor of my new office was as busy as normal and I struggled to find somewhere to sit. My midyear review went well, and I was given loads of positive feedback. My new line manager is incredibly supportive and listened to my work-related concerns. I said that I felt I wasn’t doing a very good job and I was reminded that it takes time to get used to a new role and different way of working. I came away from our meeting feeling far more positive about what I’ve been doing since the start of June.

I left the office at 3:30pm and tried to switch into what I call weekend mode. Most people I know seem to enjoy a couple of pints on a Friday evening. I spent my evening eating an unhealthy Chinese takeaway, catching up on Holby City and ironing my work clothes. Hopefully life begins at 41…

Saturday – 10 mins cross training

My Saturday routine is getting a little predictable so I won’t go into loads of detail. The morning started with a spot of parkrun volunteering. I was out on the course for the first time in a few months and had been allocated my favourite spot; Position 10 which was ideal as I was able to watch the final few minutes of Kipchoge’s record-breaking marathon run.

I’d forgotten how hectic it can get in certain areas of Sutton Park. At one point I had parkrunners and a group of runners from SE Fitness going in one direction, a group of runners from SE Fitness running in the opposite direction and what looked like some sort of organised cycling training session. Add in having to explain to quite a few people what I was doing and why I was wearing hi-viz and the hour flew by.

A couple of hours later I found myself back in Bistrot Pierre in Mere Green deciding whether to go for two or three courses. I went for the three-course option and decided to be boring and to play it safe.

Three-course lunch completed, I got home and made a start on my weekend chores. Chores completed, I spent a couple of hours completing a couple of work tasks I should have completed on Thursday. By 6:00pm I felt my lunch wasn’t going to make a reappearance so I dragged my exercise bike into the office and attempted 30 minutes of cross training. I lasted a not so impressive 10 minutes before I had to stop; my heart rate was getting ridiculously high and I felt dizzy.

Sunday – Rest Day

I briefly considered attempting some sort of training run, but I took one look at the miserable weather and decided to stay in bed. I don’t think it stopped raining all morning; the weather reminded me of my ‘hydrological’ Royal Parks Half experience 12 months ago. The rain unfortunately led to the shortening of the Great Birmingham Run route due to flooding. I felt sorry for the runners I’d met at parkrun yesterday who were staying in Birmingham because they were taking part in what should have been their first half marathon. The centre of Birmingham looked drabber than usual in the rain.

I had a slight panic when I tried to access the homepage of my blog and was met with an error message. I had visions of having to start my blog again – perhaps this would be a good thing – and the loss of loads of precious memories. Luckily, the amazing people at Lyrical Host were able to fix my blog and I felt a bit daft for panicking.

At midday mum picked me up and I got to eat my first home cooked Sunday lunch for what felt like ages. After lunch we headed into the lounge and after a lot of debate, I managed to convince mum to watch the last 45 minutes of the Chicago Marathon. I’m pleased that I persevered as I was able to watch an exciting finish to the men’s marathon and a mind-blowing world record in the women’s marathon. I just hope that the world record isn’t wiped from the record books due to doping etc. I’ve decided that Chicago will hopefully be the location of my fourth and final marathon.

I may be feeling even more negative than usual, but I think week seven of my Couch to Half Marathon training plan looks a little too challenging. The duration of the running intervals on Tuesday and Thursday increases from three to four minutes. I must remember I’m probably back at square one fitness wise and set out at sensible and hopefully sustainable pace. If I feel well enough I’ll be attempting to run five miles on Sunday. I’m repeating myself but I’m looking forward to running and not walking my favourite five mile route in Four Oaks.

Training totals

• Runs: 11
• Time: 6 hrs 9 mins
• Distance: 30.88 miles

Niggleometer

• Right knee: 2/10
• Left knee: 2/10
• Right foot: 3/10

Have you ever taken part in an organised race which has been shortened due to an incident on the day? After some initial rumours about flooding, the Great Birmingham Run was shortened due to a suspicious looking white van on the course. I read a few complaints on social media, but most people said the organisers made the right decision.

Would you ever consider setting up a junior parkrun? Apologies for the random question but I have been asked if I would consider setting up a junior parkrun as there is a shortage of them in Birmingham. It looks like the funding has already been found. Such a dilemma!

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