Week 2

Things didn't go quite as smoothly this week as last week. More bad weather rather scuppered my childcare plans, and I ended up having to do my four runs on four consecutive days.

It must seem absurd to Americans and Europeans that the UK should grind to a halt under a couple of inches of snow, but year after year, that is what happens. For me it meant that on Monday, the car didn't start, and what with having to get emergency breakdown guy and yadda yadda, Sophie missed her swimming lesson. Swimming lessons are Very Important to Sophie, so we had to make it up on Tuesday, which unfortunately clashed with the session I would have used to run. So much for my Tuesday run. There was more snow on Wednesday morning and my babysitter made it as far as Crystal Palace before she had to turn back because busses just weren't moving any more. So much for my Wednesday run.

On Thursday I managed to do 3 miles on the treadmill at the gym while Benji (6 months) was in the creche and Sophie (3 years) was at pre-school, but gosh, was that grim. After just 5 minutes I was thinking, "Man, how much longer?!" It's pretty boring just staring at the wall for half an hour. I hope not to have to that again, but when I'm stuck for childcare as I was this week, it might be inevitable.

I did my second run for the week on Friday night after Nick got home, and it was only 4 miles but it seemed hard going.

I debated about whether to do my 3 mile run on Saturday as it would mean running four days in a row. I went out and did it, mostly because it seems a bit feeble to miss a run already when I'm only in Week 2. But it was hard, even though the weather was mild. It left me feeling apprehensive about the prospect of my long run the following day.

But now it's Sunday and I've just come back from my 6 miler feeling great. I took a new route today, up Westwood Hill and through Dulwich Park. I think having the new scenery to concentrate on helped me take my mind off the distance I had to do, and it was a beautiful winter's day, cold, bright and crisp, so there was lots to enjoy. This route today was quite hilly as well, lots of long uphills and downhills, so it was a good workout. And despite the hills it only took me a little longer than my last 10K run (about an hour), so I was delighted with my time. So my only complaint really are some blisters on my toes - I need to get some new socks. Off to the Running Shop in Beckenham tomorrow to sort that out (as well as new shoes -- I'm still running in my crappy Decathlon shoes).


Week 2 runs:
Day 1: 3 miles
Day 2: 4 miles
Day 3: 3 miles
Day 4: 6 miles
Total for this week: 16 miles