I hope that everyone who reads this had a great weekend. Thanks to what is now feeling like a never ending cough and cold, my weekend was a little on the quiet side. I spent a bit of time on social media and fell into what I call the comparison trap.

My weekend highlights were timekeeping at parkrun and losing a lot of hair. I’m not a huge fan of going to the hairdressers so I’m pleased I managed to get my hair cut. I’m not convinced I’ll be able to tie my hair back so I may well have to revert to wearing some sort of headband.

Week five of my Couch to Half marathon training plan looked like this.

The training sessions all looked achievable and I started the week feeling reasonably confident.

So, how did I find the fifth week of my Couch to Half – I must come up with some sort of acronym – training plan? Did I manage to complete all of my training sessions? Did I use my exercise bike? Did I avoid picking up an injury?

Monday – Rest

The week got off to a positive start as I’d booked the day off as annual leave. Not having to head into the office on a Monday felt amazing. I had originally planned to meet up with a friend for lunch in Sutton Coldfield. Unfortunately, my friend cancelled at the last minute and I didn’t have a ‘Plan B’ so I felt like I’d wasted a day of leave. I almost headed out for an extra run but reminded myself that rest days are the most important part of any training plan. I would regret this decision later in the week!

Tuesday – Rest

Heading into the office for the first time in a week felt a little strange. I don’t think I’ll ever get used to walking to the train station when it’s dark, it didn’t start to get light until I’d reached Birmingham. Work was quite busy which was good as it meant the day flew by. In the two days I’d been out of the office I received 259 emails. I can’t be the only person who feels like they never get their inbox completely under control… I left the office at 3:30pm and discovered that my usual train had been cancelled due to a lack of train crew. Fortunately, for once there was an alternative train a few minutes later so I got home at a reasonable time.

And then my day became somewhat unproductive. Thanks to what I suspected was the start of a cough/cold, I hadn’t been feeling great all day so I decided to head to bed for a quick nap. I didn’t feel any better when I woke up so I decided to postpone my training session until the following morning. I figured that I’d have time to run in the morning as I had a training course in Birmingham. I laid out my running gear and packed what I needed for the two-day course and headed to bed.

Wednesday – 30 mins cross training

Although I didn’t feel well enough to attempt a 30 minute interval session, I just about managed to peddle on my exercise bike for 30 minutes. I felt ridiculously tired afterward, I definitely made the right choice. The short walk from Birmingham New Street to Aston University to attend a hydraulics theory training course reminded me of how I felt the morning of the Great Birmingham Run; nervous. Maths isn’t what I’d describe as one of my stronger subjects; I knew I’d find the training course more challenging than running 13.1 miles.

It took less than an hour for me to realise I was totally out of my depth. I could understand all the equations and various theories, I couldn’t for the life of me remember how to use my scientific calculator. I wasn’t the only person who found inputting simple equations into their calculator difficult. It was all a little embarrassing and a lesson in not getting too reliant on Excel! The first day of the course did have some highlights, the flume demonstrations were really informative and the practical demonstrations broke up the theory a little.

I was sensible and only had a couple of pints and a much-needed early night.

Thursday – Rest

I woke up feeling like I’d got a hangover, I suspect I actually had too much sleep. Day two of the training course was even more mathematically challenging than the first day and I was left knowing that I need to improve my maths skills ASAP. I only understood approximately 75 per cent of the course which is slightly concerning given my current technical specialist role. If anyone has any tips on becoming a full-time running coach/running blogger I’d love to hear them, the training course definitely knocked my confidence and left me with a lot to think about. At least the snacks were of a high standard!

I got home and had a bit of what I could only describe as a mini-meltdown. I spent an hour reliving some of my more stupid life choices and feeling very sorry for myself. Although I felt a little better after having a good old cry, knowing that I wasn’t well enough to do the one thing that would have me feel much better – heading out for a run – was frustrating.

Friday – Rest

I was still feeling a little fragile so I decided to work from home. I spent the morning working my way through the notes from the hydraulic theory course. I would like to say that everything suddenly made a lot more sense but it didn’t. And to think I’ve got a maths and stats course in a couple of weeks. By 3:00pm I’d had more than enough so I put my work laptop away and tried to switch into weekend mode. I briefly considered heading out for a run while it was still light but decided to be sensible and to allow myself a bit more time to recover.

Saturday – 30 mins cross training

I felt so ropey when my alarm woke me, I would have probably stayed in bed if I wasn’t on timekeeping and token sorting duty at my local parkrun. It was a case of third time lucky with timekeeping and token sorting was great fun and relatively straightforward once we’d got a system in place.

My friend very kindly collected me and dropped me back home. Once I’d had a much-needed cold drink I decided to complete my cross training session. Cycling while catching up on some of the athletics was great as the 30 minutes seemed to fly by. With the exception of a quick trip to the hairdressers, the rest of the day was so mundane I won’t bore you all to tears with the details.

Sunday – Rest

I didn’t feel great when my alarm woke me at 6:30am so I decided not to risk attempting a four mile interval session. The second part of my weekend was productive but boring. It took me a ridiculous amount of time to vacuum my house; I had to have a rest after each room. A sort of vacuuming interval session. I watched the Manchester City v Wolves match and then had yet another nap. I just hope that I start to feel better ASAP as I’ve got a busy week in the office.

Huge apologies for the most boring blog I think I’ve ever written. When I started this blog I decided to keep it real and to share the ups and downs of life. Hopefully, next week’s blog will be more positive and will contain a couple of training runs!

Week six of my Couch to Half Marathon training plan looks quite challenging but hopefully achievable. The duration of the running intervals on Thursday increases from three to four minutes. I’ll need to remember to run at a more sustainable pace. The run on Sunday increases to five miles and the duration of each running interval from two to three minutes. Cough and cold permitting, I’m looking forward to tackling my favourite five mile route.

Training totals

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

 Niggleometer

• Right knee: 2/10
• Right foot: 2/10

Have you ever been on a training course that has pushed you too far out of your comfort zone? After the hydraulic theory training course I’m dreading the maths and stats course!

A random one, but you enjoy going to the hairdressers? I’m not sure if it’s because I’m useless at what I call small talk and I also hate mirrors, but I’ve never been a fan of having my hair cut.

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