Good evening, I hope that whoever reads my latest training and life update has had an amazing weekend. I can’t believe it’s almost Monday again 🙁

My weekend highlights included yet more parkrun volunteering, lunch at Bistrot Pierre and a home-cooked Sunday lunch. I also treated myself to some ‘normal’ clothes as I realised my wardrobe was 80% running clothes and only 20% normal clothes.

Thanks to a knee niggle, the reality looked a little different. I need to remember that my right knee doesn’t cope with running down some of the steeper hills in Four Oaks.

So, how did I get on during the tenth week of my Couch to Half Marathon training? Did I actually use my exercise bike? Did I allow life and food to get in the way of training? Did I even attempt my training sessions?

Monday – Rest

My Monday started earlier than planned when I woke up at 4:00am worrying if there would be room for me to sit in the office. Once I was awake I found it hard to get back to sleep and when my alarm went off at 6:30am I felt like a zombie. I decided working from home would be the most sensible option. I did a spot of googling and discovered that hot desk induced anxiety is ‘real’ and people have spent time researching it. In a lot of people, the negatives outweigh the positives. I’m not sure what the solution for me is, but I feel better knowing I’m not the only person who feels anxious about hot desking. Apologies for starting the week with a rant!

The rest of Monday was relatively mundane. Highlights included the arrival of my festive running hat and some Christmas presents and the Italian oven-baked penne I made which tasted amazing.

Tuesday – 36 mins intervals (Run 5 mins/Walk 1 min x 6)

The journey into the office reminded me why I learnt to drive. The trains I caught were late and seriously overcrowded, the second train was so bad, two passengers started fighting. It’s a shame it’s not half term every week. I got into the office at 8:30am, found myself somewhere to sit and tracked down my mobile phone which had spent several days inside a colleague’s locker. The morning and early afternoon flew by and seven hours after arriving at work I decided to head back home.

Once home, I lost track of the time and I almost bailed out of my interval session. I gave myself a bit of a talking to, got changed into some running gear and headed out on my five minute warm-up. I quickly realised that I was wearing too many layers and that I find random fireworks scary. Once I’d warmed-up I enjoyed my interval session. I found running for five minutes more challenging than running for four minutes at a time. I swear that the one minute recovery intervals only lasted 30 seconds. Week 10 had got off to a positive start.

Wednesday – 30 mins cross training

My train experimentation continued with a slightly earlier but far less stressful journey, fingers crossed I’ve found my optimum trains. Work was work, the office was busy and at times I found it hard to concentrate. I bet that whoever came up with the concept of large open plan offices had their own office. As I needed to make up some hours, I worked until 5:30pm and got to experience what commuting during the evening rush-hour feels like.

During the journey home, I worked out I had a 35 minute ‘window’ between trains to collect an order from M&S. The power walk to and from the station took a total of 30 minutes so I decided to count this as my cross training session. Anything to avoid spending 30 minutes getting a numb bum on my exercise bike.

Thursday – Rest

I think I’ve already talked far too much about my commute to and from the office so I’ll keep my thoughts on Thursday short. Work was fine if a little on the chilly side. I left the office at 3:30pm and was home just before 5:00pm. I should have completed my second interval session of week 10 but I felt so hungry when I got home, I ended up eating at 6:00pm which, with my fragile stomach, ruled out any sort of running. The weather was also rubbish – wet and windy and the Wolves Solvan Bratislava match was on the TV so I decided to postpone my interval session until the following morning and set my alarm for 6:00am.

Friday – Rest

I’m sure that anyone who has ever followed my weekly training updates can predict what happened next…I didn’t manage to complete my interval session. Not due to drinking too much which is my usual excuse, but because my right knee was so painful during my 5 minute warm-up I decided not to run. So frustrating but something I’ve got used to. Due to the weather, the rest of my Friday was quite hectic, I can’t go into too many details but sometimes I hate rivers.

Saturday – 30 mins cross training

I had a slightly unwelcome addition to my pre-parkrun routine, defrosting my friend’s car so that he could give me a lift to Banners Gate. I have a feeling that this winter is going to be really cold. Anyway, Sutton Park looked stunning in the early(ish) morning sunshine and as I got colder and colder waiting for parkrun to start, I almost wished I was running. Almost!

I didn’t have to stand around too long getting cold as I was on tail walking duty and once I’d made my way up the ‘Hill of Doom’ I started to regret wearing loads of layers. One day I’ll work out what to wear.

[Photo: Peter Heafield]

I crossed the finish a couple of minutes behind the last parkrunners in 56:57. A top tip for all tail walkers, always make sure the people you are walking behind are actually talking part in parkrun. We followed a random couple for a couple of miles before they walked away from the parkrun route. I stopped off at the Communitea Café for a bacon butty and some running related chat and banter. I got home at midday which didn’t give me long to get ready and to meet my friend at Bistrot Pierre in Mere Green. The restaurant was really quiet for a Saturday which meant we could actually have a conversation.

I was feeling brave so tried the chilli and garlic prawns, followed by my usual Steak-Frites and Crème brûlée.

I got home and spent the next couple of hours feeling full and not wanting to risk spending 30 minutes on my exercise bike. I did eventually complete my cross training session but found every second of the 30 minutes a little tedious. I think it’s very safe to say I won’t be entering a triathlon any time soon.

Sunday – Rest

Thanks to a niggly right knee, what should have been a four mile interval session lasted less than five minutes. I’m so used to missing training sessions due to my right knee, I’ve reached the stage I no longer get completely stressed out. Yes, missing training sessions is frustrating but it’s not the end of the world as I don’t have a target half marathon event at the moment.

The rest the day was what I’d describe as mundane but incredibly productive. I spent the morning catching-up on some household related chores and sorted out my ‘normal’ clothes. I headed to mums for a spot of late Sunday lunch and made sure that I went for a post-lunch walk before it got too dark. When I got home, I spent some time ordering Christmas presents, listing some unwanted running gear on a second-hand selling page and catching up on some slightly overdue blog related admin. I also published this blog as I’ve had enough of blogs not going live at the right time.

Week 11 of my Couch to Half Marathon training plan looks quite challenging and as I’m typing this, I’m not convinced all of the training sessions will be doable. The interval sessions on Tuesday and Thursday are identical to Week 10; 36 minutes of 5 minute running intervals followed by one minute recovery intervals. The distance of the longer session on Sunday increases from four to seven miles. I’m meant to be taking part in the Birmingham MoRun on Saturday, if I do, I won’t run on Sunday.

Training totals

• Runs: 15
• Time: 9 hrs 36 mins
• Distance: 49.54 miles

Niggleometer

• Right knee: 7/10
• Left knee: 3/10
• Right foot: 2/10

Did you have a good weekend? I hope everyone who reads this had a great weekend.

Have you started your Christmas shopping yet? After my friend told me she’d finished her Christmas shopping I had a minor panic and then made a start on my Christmas shopping. I’ve set myself a budget of £500 for all of my family gifts this year.

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