Training is Tough

There are no two ways about it, training is tough! The physical aspect of it is tough enough; train hard, race easy is an oft used mantra. What I have always found tougher though is the practicalities of training. I have a full time job, a responsible position in the Army Reserve as a second career, childcare responsibilities for my 2 youngest children and also must make time for my patient, understanding and very lovely partner, Claire. She supports me fully and (hardly ever) complains about me being out of the house – again! I am aware of my failings of past relationships and how Marathon des Sables was a contributing factor to one of those so I am conscious as to not neglect Claire or take advantage of her.

Having said all that, since my self-imposed rest during April, training has gone pretty well during May. I’m not going to say everything is going to plan or start making wild predictions about future performance as, every time I have said that in the past, something usually goes wrong. I have managed to almost stick to a structure of training rather than a rigid programme and, for the last 2 weeks, have managed to get out and nail some hard kms on the Anglesey Coastal Path. This is a meandering, ascending, descending trail which constantly puts me to the test so I am grateful to have it on my doorstep. Last week was particularly pleasant with a real summer evening feel about it. So much so that I put on a real sprint so I could get back to the car, drive home, pick up Claire and then get back down to Cemaes beach to watch the sunset. Yesterday, however, reverted to North Wales type and I finished the session rather damp! All good training value though! I'm still optimistic that I can get a full circuit of the trail in before G2G but that will require a few ducks in a line. Hopefully I'll pull it off as 125 miles with almost 14,000ft of ascent will be pretty good grounding for G2G. I have an aspiration to do the loop inside 48 hrs so (again hopefully) that will stimulate some sponsor cash, which hasn't exactly been rolling in!!

Anyhoo, here's a brief interlude of the beauty of the Coastal Path

Other highlights are a trip to Haven Holiday Park in Pwllheli on Monday for 5 days with Claire and the aforementioned ankle biters where I aim to get at least an hour in each day. Then at the end August, because we can’t wait to go to the Caribbean in January, the 2 of us are off to a secluded villa on the outskirts of a Portuguese farming village near Lisbon where Claire can relax and go to art workshops and the like while I bang in some warm weather training before starting the taper to G2G.

All sounds like a plan but then blog posts of the past remind me that my next post could be one of doom and despair!! But for now, make hay while the sun shines! Oh, wait, it's raining again! Haha!