11 weeks to go

I have finally got round to updating my blog again. I had a well deserved break after my 10 mile race in December and didn't do any running for 3 weeks over Christmas. I have finally got back up to 10 miles again building up slowly so I thought this was the opportune time to start writing again on the run up to the marathon. 

From the beginning of January it is 16 weeks to the London Marathon so it was perfect to start a training plan, I have been following the Nike Finish A Race marathon training plan. http://www.nike.com/runningfeatures/facebook/facebook_web/eventprogram/pdf/en_US/marathon_pr.pdf

We received a gift of family gym membership from my parents for Christmas which has been invaluable for keeping motivated during the cold. Having never run on a treadmill before it took a bit of getting used to and any longer runs do feel very difficult, I think it was more to do with being forced to watch either Columbo or Jeremy Kyle for entertainment, it doesn't really compare to being out in the open. 

January is always an easy month to commit yourself to something 100%. No one is going out, there's not much you miss out on or any reasons to fall off the wagon. It hasn't been without its wobbles though, and not just the fleshy sort. The weekend of Blue Monday I hit a downward spiral. I do struggle with depression and sometimes it just hits me even though I am on happy pills for it. I want to hide away from the world and the thought of having to get up every day and face the world is a struggle. Its the mental battle of knowing that I have to get up at least three times a week every week until April and run until it hurts, when it feels all I want to do is pull the duvet over my head and stay there until I feel strong enough to emerge. Everyone always tells you that doing regular exercise is good for depression. The only trouble is that if I miss a training day I am then racked with guilt about it and it makes it all that harder to get back out there. A million questions are asked. Why am I doing this? Is it worth it? Will I feel better for giving up? 

But I have managed to find the motivation from somewhere and have always hit my long run targets at the end of the week so far. I think what makes it harder is knowing how stubborn I am and I know that once I start I won't stop until it kills me, which sometimes feels like it is, so starting is the most difficult part.

On Saturday I ran 10 miles and took a whole 14 minutes off my previous time. However I am still recovering 2 days later. I went out way too hard and I have suffered because of it. I just wanted to prove that I have come a long way again. But now I have proved that I can get back into my normal routine and my slow plodding pace just to ensure I get round. My target is 12 miles this Sunday so I will report back with how that goes. 

Categories: 10 miles, depression, mental