Training Week 9

Ah! Spring is in the air. No, wait a minute. That's not spring. It's....SNOW!

It's nearly April and I am having to worry about snow and ice! Seriously?! By now I should be into my spring/summer running gear not having to dig out my fleece lined gear.

I don't like the cold at the best of times but having to train in it is definitely not enjoyable.

My body hates the cold. Things tend to ache more when it's cold. My back has been sore and my knee is playing up to the point I had to invest in a knee brace this week.

Not only that but the weather is playing havoc with my nicely planned out training plan. I can just about manage 40 minutes on the treadmill without going insane but knowing this weekend I had a 3 hour run to do, the forecast was not filling me with motivation.

Due to the weather the previous weekend and moving my long run to the Sunday, I had already had to miss a training run. So when Saturday rolled around and I had planned to run to my mum's from my flat (18 miles), nothing was going to stop me.

In hindsight I should have said "now, let's not be stupid and run in the wind and snow". Instead I layered up, loaded @chrisnotwell up with supplies to catch up with me on the bike and embarked on my long distance run. And for the first 10 miles it was fine.

But choosing to run on the Thames Path was my downfall. After Woolwich it opens out. And then came the sleet and relentless wind. My face felt as though it was being hit by tiny pins and the pain was unbelievable when I got hit in the eye. For the next 5 miles it was consistent wind, sleet and cold. And @christnotwell had got a puncture so was no where near catching me up to keep me going. I hit the wall in spectacular style. It nearly caused me an asthma attack until I realised @chrisnotwell had my inhaler therefore having an attack in the middle of nowhere where I hadn't passed another person for an hour wasn't sensible.

I tried to carry on a little further but once I could see Erith town centre I called my mum to pick me up. I hurt. My left side was numb from the wind constantly hitting it. My hands were cold even though I had gloves on and I was quite hungry having exhausted my supply of carbo gels.

I hadn't achieve either time or distance which annoyed me but I couldn't carry on. The weather had beaten me.

As I haven't completed a long enough run, I have revised my training plan for week 10. You may have won the battle weather but the war is far from over!

Planned:
350 mins
50.5km (31.38 miles)

Actual:
273 mins
39.45km (24.51 miles)

Weight: I give up!

A shocking week stats wise. I missed one 50 minute run and only managed 10 minutes on the Wednesday due to a muscle pull. Hopefully though I can pull it back this week.

Weight wise, I give up. The scales are up and down like a yo-yo. As soon as I think I have lost weight it suddenly reappears. This may be because I am now carb loading in preparation. It may be because I had a couple of beers and an entire Dominos pizza on Thursday (the beer was a bad idea but I refuse to feel guilty about the pizza). It could be anything.

Lastly, THANK YOU so much to everyone who has sponsored me so far. I have upped my fundraising target to £1000 as I was getting quite close to my last target, and well to be honest, it is such an awesome charity it would feel wrong to aim for anything less!

If you still fancy sponsoring a mad woman who runs in ridiculous weather conditions all in the name of charity you can sponsor me at www.justgiving.com/urban-fox.

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