I’m about four weeks into my marathon training now. Started early to allow for coughs, colds, child-related emergencies, Christmas hols and other family stuff.
So far it’s going well. The aim is to run four times a week and train once with my personal trainer. There was a bit of moving and rearranging runs at the end of last week after a school meeting overran and I returned home feeling drained and late for the club’s track session. Managed to squeeze in a treadmill interval session a couple of days later so all was not lost.
The next two weeks are going to be a challenge – a soft play party, dance show rehearsals and performances, a yoga afternoon with a fellow runner and hairdressers for me and the girls will eat into my weekend running time – but with a bit more rearranging, support from my husband and some early morning runs, I should get it covered.
Consistency in training has always been a challenge for me. My job is sedentary and I often just feel lethargic when I get home – getting out the door to train can be a real challenge. Add to this the dark nights and repetitive training routes to stay in well-lit areas and the temptation to skip a session can be huge.
And so I’m quite pleased with my first four weeks. I’ve proved I can stick to the plan and motivate myself, and be flexible when life throws obstacles in my way. I’m also running strong at the moment, which helps build my running confidence.
Let’s hope things continue this way… 26.2 miles is a distance to respect.