October...

Where did it go?  I can't believe that it's 5 weeks since Loch Ness.  In that time I have attempted and DNF'd Amsterdam marathon, DNS'd Glen Ogle and made a feeble attempt at Run with the Wind 10km.  All the time I have been competing with some nasty viral thing which I thought was a head cold that I'd come down with straight after Loch Ness :-(
Maybe it's just my old body reminding me that it's no longer young and while I'm reasonably fit for an old bird, I needed some R&R and was maybe attempting too much.  I don't know about you, but once a race is over and the euphoria dies down, usually a day or two - or in the case of post G24, a week :-)  then I tend to think I'm ready to move on to the next target - I forget I need recovery time.  However, those are not grumbles and moans they're just the way it is, I was particularly unwell last Tuesday night/ Wednesday and so I stayed home from work and slept lots which seemed to help.  I knew I wasn't up to a 33 mile run on Saturday, but we still managed to get togged up in our foul weather gear and spend 6 hours in the rain/sleet/cold ringing cowbells and cheering on the runners!  Sunday dawned a beautiful day so I decided to give the 10k a go - heartfelt thanks to Dougie for agreeing to chum me round as his recovery run after his first Ultra at Glen Ogle!
However... it's not a negative post, in the space of 8 weeks I
completed the Devil O' The Highlands an hour ahead of schedule
ran 50.36miles in 12 hours at Glenmore24
got a new PB at Loch Ness marathon
got a season's best time for 10 at Run with the Wind...

and yep still I'm grumbling :-D  we're never happy huh?  On the plus side, I think I have finally cleared the virus out my system, I feel better this past 3 days than I have felt for ages, I am back on a training plan and I have set my goals for 2014 and entered races.

one more race this year then is time for marcothon!  Bring on the Winter training! 
 (oh and am about to take part in some trials... more of that to come)

Downtime...

In his book "Everyone's guide to distance running" coach Norrie Williamson says, "The better the recovery, the better will be the quality on the other side. In many ways, recovery is the most important part of your training schedule and your training is only as good as your recovery."
So there you go that's why the only running I've done since Canada is parkrun 2 weeks ago, a wee 5km blast on the treadmill the following Tuesday, the Jimmy Irvine Bella 10k last Saturday...oh and a wee trauchle up Dumyat through the bog on Sunday morning :-)
However it's getting to that point where I need the structure and discipline again so am now counting down the days until Marcothon starts on 1st December :-)
I've been back at pinpoint fitness fitcamps again 3 times a week since I got back and that's been great, it's kept me sane, and I get my endorphin fix!  It's also helped me to shift a couple more pounds and hopefully will kickstart some more weightloss over the next couple of months which will help me with my training for the Highland Fling at the end of April.  I am hoping to start by doing a couple of very gentle recce runs on the parts of the route which I haven't run yet, looking forward to that starting soon and getting my new trail shoes on Sunday will be the start of this project :-)
Health and fitness wise, it's all pretty good at the moment, came back from Canada with no injuries and had a wee visit to the physio 2 weeks ago and he was pleased with the state of my  legs!  Just have to keep fit throughout the winter so that I am ready to take on the next big challenge.

Oh! Before that however there is one BIG challenge that I am undertaking... 2 weeks tonight I am going to do a FIREWALK - yes walking across hot coals!  Scary stuff believe me!
This has been arranged with the pinpoint crew and Tesco and is to raise money for Cancer Research UK, so if you are reading this and you agree that yes 'she has finally flipped' then if you could spare a few pennies we'd all be really grateful.  You can donate here  Thank You xxx

Rest is training...

so they say!
Enforced rest this week - back to physio Monday morning and new tape applied, same groovy colours, different pattern :-) So, this week has been resting and trying to do heel raises - it took me til yesterday to be able to do singles on the left leg but getting there now and managed to do 7 this afternoon followed by another 3 later on... how sad when your achievements are measured in single figures :-(
No 10k race for me on Sunday now though. I will go with John to parkrun at Strathclyde park on Saturday and will marshall while he hopefully gets a new P.B. and gives his snazzy new shoes an outing! They're too orange for me but they are pretty cool :-)

In order to ease the taper madness which is exacerbated by the lack of running, I've just baked a big batch of rhubarb and custard buns, will send some to work for the Runtime Error guys, that's a whole new post :-) and will take some in for my colleagues. Roll on the weekend I might get a wee jog!

Tired but still going...

but not sure for how much longer! :-) Might be a very early bed tonight! I can't remember if I mentioned the 100Days Challenge before but basically you sign up to move intentionally for 30mins every day for 100 days. Well, even though I am really tired and quite achey from all my exertions this week - no pain though, just tired muscles, I managed 30min on the Wii fit after work tonight. Just enjoyed a high protein high iron/vitamin C dinner - steak, potatoes, sprouts, broccoli, carrots and a little glass of Rioja.
Tomorrow's weather looks pretty yukky - heavy rain though mild temperatures, but I have to "suck it up" and try and get in a 10mile run. Hence the potentially early bedtime :-)
However that's the first week of the new intensive routine almost over, just a Bootcamp and 2 runs to go! I think Monday will have to officially be REST DAY.