A tougher week

Things have been going so well since the start of January - I've been steadily increasing weekly mileage and long runs further than I've managed for about 15 months, so it was inevitable that there would be a wobble at some point. Last week I struggled a bit, but am still on track. Phew.

The bad
1. I finally got a proper cold. Despite having a snotty nose for the last 3 months, it was only this week that I got the sore throat, hacking cough and streaming nose that signify actual illness.

2. This forced me to take a rest day on Wednesday, when I would have rather been for a run, and I then missed a bike ride on Friday to fit in a substitute run.

3. This also made all the other runs tougher than they should have been, as I needed regular coughing and nose-wiping breaks.

4. I got a hangover! I don't drink to excess often these days, but on Friday night, Pete and I stayed up late chatting and playing cards like we used to do before we were parents. We also used to drink vodka and tonic about 10 years ago, and hence I woke up on Saturday morning with a banging headache and a reluctance to get out of bed. I felt ok after some breakfast and nurofen though.

5. The following night, our neighbours had a party. The music was pretty loud through the walls, and although Pete and the kids slept through it, I was kept awake until after 3am. Why oh why can't I be a deep sleeper?

(6. I got a little pain in my heel after my long run, but I don't want to talk about it.)

The good
1. I ran 8.1 miles on Monday, which was my longest run since the injury. I can't pretend it was fun, in fact it was bloody hard work, but it felt great when I'd finished.

2. I had another lovely bike ride on Tuesday. It was about 10.4 miles and quite hilly, but I really enjoyed finding a new route and exploring.

3. I ran 18.7m for the week, so mileage is still going up!

4. We had a great weekend involving kids' cinema, furniture shopping, lunch out, a visit to my brother-in-law's and a trip to the park with his family. It's great that the kids can see their cousin so easily now we moved down from Scotland.















Anyway I still ran my long run, ran 4 times, and kept increasing the mileage, so it all turned out ok in the end!