And....

The day after 3 long runs in a row is much better if you've run the long runs fairly slowly. Feel fine today, just a bit tired, no extra aches or pains.......... all good!

45 miles in 3 days - done!

68 miles for the week, 45 of which were done in the last 3 days. I actually think I may be able to run 3 marathons in 3 days now!

Having spent a week in France running fairly easily, I had it all saved for my return. Mind you I shouldn't be let out alone. Yet again whilst on holiday I managed to fall over bashing the same knee as in Pembrokeshire, which this time bled profusely having not fully healed from the last fall, and ended up pretty bruised too. It was another early morning run, just 6 miles, I fell over a bump in the road. Had the usual horrible slow motion thing, fell heavily on both knees, and saved myself with the heels of my hands, both of which are still scarred! Whilst lying on the ground at the top of the Normandy hills above the sea, and wondering how badly I was hurt, I did wonder whether I should start wearing kneepads to run in (but later decided that might be tempting fate). I managed to finish the run, with lovely bloody tracks from both knees, the locals must have wondered if I'd escaped from somewhere. The knee was stiff the following day, but pretty much recovered in 2 days. It is stiff again now after 45 miles, but I guess that's not really surprising.

I did a little aquajogging in the sea whilst in France too to save my legs from the constant pounding. Although it was scenic and kinder to the legs, swirling around in the sea can get a bit dull after 30 minutes or so, so I was pretty pleased that I managed about 45 minutes. It also allowed me to go to the beach with the rest of the family rather than dashing off into the hills on my own. That is a real issue now I am doing more miles, the amount of time I spend away from the family. I hate to miss anything. My husband is very understanding, and I try to time my runs so that everyone is still in bed, or not doing anything too exciting, but it does mean I get less sleep, and housework has had to take a bit of a backseat lately!

Anyway getting back to my miles this weekend. I managed 10 miles on Friday afternoon having returned from France that lunchtime. I forgot to charge my Garmin in time, and so ran by time, so have no idea how fast I ran. I suspect it was a little on the fast side, closer to 10 min miling than 11. Mentally it was hard, particularly leaving the house. Once the decision was made, it was more manageable, but a constant effort to keep on putting one foot in front of the other. I then did 20 miles on my own over the Gower on Saturday morning. That was tough, I mean really tough. I threw in 30 second walk breaks every 2 miles from 6 miles in. Not that I think I really needed them physically, but they broke up a seemingly endless run, and gave me something to aim for. The pace was slow, 11.18mm overall, with hills and walk breaks, and moments of moaning. I survived, but the balls of my feet were tender in the afternoon, and playing on my mind was the 15 miles I had to do the following day.

Today I really acheived something. I managed to find a Women's Running Network long run group to join for 7.5 miles of my long run. I did 3.5 very slow very achy miles before I met them, then they dragged me along for an hour and a half. If I had been more organised I would have done all my extra miles before the group, but I couldn't face getting up at 6am. It was fantastic having such good company. The pace was slow 12mm+, but it was absolutely perfect for me today. I will definitely be joining the group again to help with the miles later in the year, I just wish there was a group both days of the weekend.

So a little easy running on holiday, and some big miles this weekend, and I am another step closer to my goal. I can't think about the whole run across Wales at the moment, the 3 marathons in 3 days is enough. But after a tough weekend I am still in one piece, if a little sore and tired, and I really believe I can do this running thing!

Another weekend, another long run (or two...)

Managed my 20 miler today, with some excellent company, thanks Mandy. That's after a 15 miler yesterday done over 5 hours with clubs, clients and a bit on my own. That's 65 miles in total for the week, and I feel much better! Confidence is now well on it's way to being fully restored.

I felt much more positive and less achy after my 15 miles yesterday. I am sure that was helped by my first sports massage in nearly a month, which turned out to be pretty painful. It was of course a good kind of pain, and sorted out all the niggles and issues I have had in the last few weeks. Running with someone else really does make the miles go faster. I took regular 30 second walk breaks from about 9 miles in, mainly to see how it worked with regards to my overall pace, and whether it helped. It did help mentally, having an easy bit to aim for. Mandy refused to let me take one at 19 miles, and it has to be said, I'm glad she wouldn't let me, I didn't need it. However, there was only a 20 second per mile difference between mine and Mandy's averages, as she ran when I walked. My aim is to finish in one piece, and if taking walk breaks makes that plan more doable, then I will be walking.

A week off hard training next week, and then the following week it's the first of the 3 hard days in a row. 10, 15 and 20, one week followed by 12, 20 and Bristol Half the next week. I now feel like I could actually do that and survive.

This time next month I will be running 74 miles a week, a first............ new territory all the way from here on in, yippee!

Family camping and high mileage don't mix.

I have just returned from a fantastic camping holiday in Pembrokeshire. I now feel thoroughly relaxed, if a little tired, tanned and a bit grubby!

I had decided whilst on holiday to run a big week, 65 miles, rather than take it easy, mainly because I thought I would have more time. This was a mistake. However, I quickly realised my mistake and ran an easy 25 miles all week. We arrived on the Saturday, so I went out for a quick 6 miler. I then took Sunday off running (but managed a fairly arduous hilly 8 mile walk), and ran morning and evening on Monday, 6 miles both times. I was feeling super stiff and tired by this time, having not slept well. I had also forgotten that camping is very physical and sleeping outside makes you stiff. The 6 miles in the morning was done on just a banana at 7.30am on the coastal path. And I felt dreadful. The legs were tired, I just couldn't pick up my feet, and it took all my mental energy to stay upright. One minute I was checking my watch, the next I was flat on my face in the dirt. I had tripped over a stone and scraped my right knee and dented my confidence badly. But I dusted myself off and managed to finish the run ok.

The next few days consisted of easy short 4-6 mile road runs or days off.

Falling over on the coastal path was not good. Alot of the time I was on holiday I was thinking of the 3 marathons in 3 days I will be doing in November, along that very stretch of coastal path. The race HQ is in St Davids where we were camping, so I had constant reminders of what I have signed up for. Confidence for offroad coastal running is very low at the moment. My knee is actually still very sore to touch, albeit a surface wound only. I am hoping that it was a combination of camping tiredness and general exhasution that led to my fall, and not an innate inability to run Pembrokeshire Coastal path safely!! Before the holiday I was dog tired, but coping. The holiday was great to get away from work for a while, but sleeping in a tent and living outside for a week is never very restful. I am off again in a few days camping to France, so I am planning on adjusting my schedule to take that into account, having learnt from my experience in St Davids. Trying to run a 60+ mile week, in the gaps of a family camping holiday left me feeling extremely stiff, tired and a little tearful. Once I'd taken the pressure off myself and swapped my easy week planned for this week, and my 60+ mile week, which I will complete this week coming, I felt so much better.

One great thing about the holiday though, was bumping into an old friend in St Davids, and finding he and his sister and brother, spouses and parents plus children were all staying in the area for the week.Having known them for nearly 20 years, but due to geography only see them every few years it was a fantastic chance to spend the week catching up, and enjoying everyone's company. We now plan to do it again next year!

A Quicky

Just a quick post to say I'm ridiculously busy!

Having the boys on holiday makes everything a little harder. Running 62 miles this week, as well as working, looking after the boys for at least some of the time I'm not working, and trying to keep a house running relatively smoothly makes for a very tiring time.

Still it'll feel so easy when all I have to do is run!

How to avoid injury or "Neuroses R Us!"

It was supposed to be 22 miles, but the neither the mind nor the body was in the slightest bit interested. To manage 18 miles was in fact a real bonus.

I have been struggling with stiff knees this week, mainly due to a weights programme designed to build leg strength and protect joints. The side effect has been stiff tired knees. Couple that with a rather large dollop of neuroses, and you have a rubbish long run.

One of the reasons I think I have managed to avoid injury for the last 4 years is that I am an incredibly neurotic runner. Every little twinge and I am convinced I am injured and will have to give up running forever. So, if something isn't right I try and find a way to deal with it immediately. On Thursday I had the best hilly 6 mile run for a while, my knees were completely niggle free. Then I followed it up with a slightly hard strength workout followed directly by 3 miles power walking. During the walk my left knee was tight, very tight. As a result Friday and Saturday both saw a complete loss of confidence. Running long for me, especially when you are tired, and you are in the final week of a 3 week hard cycle, has a great deal to do with how confident you feel as a runner.

On starting Saturday's run my thoughts were "if I manage 3 miles, at least it's a run." This gradually crept up to "8 miles is a decent length", then "10 miles is double figures", "16 miles is a proper long run", and I finished on "18 miles will do today". I am convinced if I hadn't procrastinated on Saturday morning and got out of bed earlier, that 18 miles might even have been 22.

I am disappointed in myself that I have failed to hit my target twice in the last month. I have of course had very valid reasons for not hitting those targets, but just the simple task of having to adjust my schedule to take account of those missed targets has had me soul searching and wondering how things will pan out over the next few months. It is or course 15 weeks until the 3 marathons in 3 days, my first real test, so allowing myself a little more time to acclimatise to the high mileage is very sensible. Yesterday I thought 18 miles instead of 22 was an early sign my training was falling apart. I suppose I am pretty hard on myself.

Next week sees the boys break up from school and my husband away for 5 days, so no childcare, and limited running opportunities. I hope to be able to squeeze in some early morning running, but it will be a light week for miles, which will do me good. A chance to regain my confidence and give my body a chance to recover a little energy.

This week I have learnt that this challenge is very much a solo event, and that means training as well as completing the actual challenge. Unless Rory Coleman, or another ultra distance coach suddenly decides to become my patron, mentor and all round good guy, then the only one who's going to get me through this is me. So starting to unravel the reasons behind some of my more debilitating neuroses would be a good way to free myself up to just run. Whoever realised running would involve so much psychoanalysis?

Ran a lot - learnt a lot!

What I didn't expect was to be on such a journey so soon.

I honestly expected to just add a little bit to my training every week or so, and to pootle along until I was ready to take part in some events. What I hadn't anticipated was how much I would learn about myself and about running so early in my training. It's been 11 weeks since I started training for running across Wales, and the biggest thing I've realised to date, is that this challenge will be far more mental than physical.

For the last 6-8 weeks I have been suffering with a "tweaky" left knee. At some point I twisted it, and it just twinges when I land awkwardly, or I have to run particularly slowly. I have been stretching, had my massage therapist check it out, and recently I have been strength training as well. I have known for months if not years that I need to strength train to protect my joints, but it is only the last week that has seen me take that seriously. I have found some full body exercises specifically designed for marathon runners by the Furman Institute, that take only 15 mins to complete twice a week. It's made me feel more tired this week, but having seen results already I now realise it's essential. My right achilles/calf has been tight for weeks, but after strength training, it's feeling a lot better. Why oh why didn't I do this earlier??

I have also learnt this week, that I need to pay more attention to detail. Having done 60 miles this week, with 12 on Friday and 20 on Saturday, with stiff knees............ I suddenly remembered I needed new running shoes. I had it in my head that I was doing roughly 40 miles per week, which would mean new shoes in August, but for the last 8 weeks I have been doing 50 as a minimum, and it all adds up. Thank goodness I have some new shoes ready to go. To be honest I usually just wait until my current running shoes feel like slippers, all sloppy and no support. I think I really need to be a bit more scientific about it and actually count the miles in each pair rather than waiting til they feel used. My knees have definitely suffered over the last couple of weeks running in shoes that should have been in the bin already.

The biggest thing I've learnt this week by far is that I'm not a natural risk taker. Friday's 12 miles was really tough, quite hilly and my energy levels were really low. After the run I felt like I'd done a long run, sore legs, tired (even had a little nap), and stiff. Technically by now 12 miles should be something I take in my stride, so the thought of going out and running 20 miles the next day was hugely daunting. I had convinced myself I would be running at 12mm, and struggling the whole way. In fact I ran sub 10.45mm over a very hilly route and coped well with the heat. I worry all the time that I'm going to break my body. I think my body is able to do far more than I give it credit for. But it still seems a hell of a long way from where I am now to being able to run 30 miles every day for a week. Another 60 miles to do next week, and then it's an easy week to recover.

Oh and then there's the question of my food intake again. I had another realisation this week. On Wednesday I had an hour's work in the morning, and then the rest of the day to run and do whatever I liked. Having worked so hard last week I decided to run, and then do some clothes shopping. I enjoyed myself so much shopping that I didn't realise the time, and had just 1 small snack between breakfast at 7.30am and lunch at 2pm. I ate well at lunch and didn't think anything more of it. However the next morning, I paid the price. I woke at 6.30am so hungry I felt sick and weak. I had a big bowl of porridge, and felt still hungry, an hour later my stomach was rumbling again, so I had a couple of pieces of toast. During my run I was constantly hungry, and it was tough. I can't miss out on calories, or I pay for it. Since Thursday I have been eating well and often. And I do love food, but even I am struggling to eat enough to fuel my running.

Another week done, another long list of things learnt, another tired Sunday pottering round feeling a bit spaced................... running is great!