Marred March, or: Tina Arena and me.

[Mid Life Crisis Marathon Man]

Well another busy week has been and gone. I did my best to get as much rest as I could and keep my calorie intake up where it needed to be. But still I awoke this morning (Sunday) tired and lethargic. Heading out to do my long 'un I felt more tired than I can ever remember being at the start of a run before. Ordinarily if I felt this bad I simply wouldn't run. But today was non-negotiable. 25km had to be covered or my Canberra campaign was simply over.

The first 5km were the worst. The second five? They were the worst too. After that things got really tough.

However.

It's true to say that at any stage after about the 15km mark I could simply have pulled the plug and happily said "bollocks" to the idea of the Canberra marathon. But I had to tell myself that physically I felt fine. I was not in any pain. I wasn't cramping. I was just very, very tired. And I could put up with a bit of tiredness for a few more kilometres. And that's what I did. It was just a case of head down, arse up and keep plodding (and this was a very slow run).

And in the end I got there. 25km banked and now, some 9 hours later I feel fine. I still don't understand how I'm going to slot in the extra 17.2 kilometres I'll need to do on the day to complete the race, but at least I'm in with a shot. Another 25km next week, then a couple of 30s after that and maybe I'll get through.

This coming week looks a little easier for me too - apart from moving house which I have to do on Wednesday, but at least the bulk of the renovation work on the new digs is done. I work Monday/Tuesday then have 5 days off, so at least two runs this week for absolute certain: I reckon a decent intervals workout is needed, as I'm covering the distance but have no real speed to speak of.

Today was no fun, but it's done. MLCM still lives.