Fail to plan, plan to fail

When creating my training plan for the Fling I approached it much like I have approached my marathon training plans - a period of mileage build-up, followed by a  short recovery.  Without some sort of recovery built in to the plan I know that with my current level of fitness/ability I am likely to come down with proper injuries (beyond my constant hamstring niggle).

Knowing what life events would be coming this past week, and the extra ones that have been piled on top of these, it made sense to make this a minimal mileage recovery week.  As it turns out, this has been a very difficult week for various personal reasons but it ended on a  high with my little boy having his 1st birthday party.  He's had a difficult couple of months so it was lovely to see him having such a fun time with all his family.

The week has closed out with an extra surprise however.  For the first time since having our children we decided to go to our running club's annual awards dinner.  I'm so glad we did because I got a complete shock to find out I had won DRC's Memorial Marathon Award for the best performance in a marathon in 2014.  It was so unexpected.  I got quite a shock to hear my name called out.  I have always worked hard in my training, but no matter how hard I train, I will never be part of the Sub-3-Hour Club.  It was so nice to have my hard work acknowledged.  2014's marathon project after having Daniel was really tough, and for a long time I thought my efforts were futile.  But I kept at it, kept pushing, kept training, and even when I thought I had missed my chance (in Majorca) I came back with one last shot; and NAILED it!  I am extremely grateful to the committee for this honour.  It means the world to me.

Marathon Award and Handicap 5km Series Award - SQUEAL!!

Having had this recovery week from running I am now looking forward to Mileage Madness March. (Imaginative I know!).  I want to try and get some really solid mileage in, with a few more back-to-backs, long runs and (hopefully) 53+ miles each week. 53 miles may sound an odd number but that's the distance of the Highland Fling so it seems kind of apt.  I know others will be doing a far higher mileage but it is important not to overdo it.  Everyone needs to find a balance of pushing themselves a bit harder and  a bit further in training so that they can make improvements in their race performance, but this has to be balanced with their own current ability.  There's no point breaking yourself in training if it means you won't even make it to the start line.

I have two recce runs scheduled in for the race route during March.  I am looking forward being back on the route.  I haven't seen any of the improvements to the trail that have been made in the past couple of years.  In fact I haven't run on the southern half of the West Highland Way since I ran the full race back in 2010!  I can't believe it's been that long! Having children has a way of making you lose track of time!

Birthday boy - sooooo cute!