It's getting better

I must have passed some unknown stage in the training schedule which allows you to run pain free for a while ---my legs seem to have adapted and I've had not nearly as much calf soreness despite running faster and longer and more frequently. It's great. Not particularly enjoying running in sub zero temperatures or watching carefully so that I don't slip on ice and break my leg - but I'm loving the increasing level of fitness and the feeling of achievement after each long run - the last one was 9 miles, 9 MILES!

It's a funny old business this running malarky. The pains come and go. Just when you think you've got a serious tear, the pain evaporates into thin air. Then you can have a great run when you feel like you've mastered something, you're on top of the world. Then suddenly you're running for 10 minutes and you feel like stopping cos you've got a stitch and it's painful and you're just not feeling it. So it's hard to get any consistency.

I've also starting to realise how much comittment it involves. There's no messing with the schedule. Woe betide you if you miss a long run....all the pressure of the race, the charity you're running for, the expectations of friends and family, the pride...makes you just get out there and do it. I've run in snow, heavy icy winds, rain...all for the cause ;-)

I'm off to Lille this weekend for a 40th birthday party (not mine yet!) and I'm thinking of when will be the best time to fit in my long run - it affects everything you do. Prospect of running in Lille is a good one though - change of scenery will stop the boredom that creeps in occassionally when running my 10 k Grove Park/Bromley/Catford circuit.

Two things I must be careful of: too much rich French food, and too much wine...
I'm constantly hungry and feeling justified in eating huge amounts of pasta and anything else which takes my fancy. I'm beginning to think that I'll end up putting weight on rather than trimming down on the tummy flab. We'll see.