The One Where I Freaked.Right.Out. but Still Managed to Have a Very Nice Breakfast

Oy. The last few days saw me slump into a 'What on EARTH have I done?' phase (that's me being polite. My actual words were somewhat different). I've been feeling sick to my stomach and completely overwhelmed by what I have taken on. I have identified two reasons for the overwhelm (and if that's not an actual word, it should be).

Firstly, I have had a few negative reactions to my admittedly extreme plan and instead of dealing with it like this, I let them get to me a bit.

Secondly, I've been talking to people who have done some actual marathons. Their experience will be of immense help once I am further along but all that talk of carbo shots and the three hour long runs ... again with the overwhelm. I've just finished Week 2 and all I've really done so far is go for seven walks. That's more than I've done for a long time, it's an important first step, yada, yada, but I'm about as ready to run a marathon at this point in time as I am ready to lead the free world. Not very ready.
But, as I was reminded by Sensible Others, these feelings are totally normal and it is quite possible to do what I am attempting to do. So I just have to keep reminding myself to stay focussed on what is right in front of me and not get too far ahead of myself. Oooh, I can feel a Buddha quote coming on!

"Do not dwell in the past, do not dream of the future, concentrate the mind on the present moment"

Right on.

Week 2 finished on a high note with the Long Walk, which involved an 8km walk from Mt Pleasant into Mount St in the city for breakfast with Prof Andrew and Paula. The pace was fast-moderate but I suspect they slowed it down for me a bit! I did consider doing the return walk back to Mt Pleasant with them but decided not to push it. Here's a picture of us enjoying the reward breakfast at (their) half-way point.

Hard at work, training for a marathon, with Andrew, Ben, Paula, Sally and Serge

Week 3 of the Pre-Training Program involves three 30 minute FAST walking sessions, fast walking defined by my Non-Runner's book as 13 to 16 minutes per mile - that's about 8 - 10 minutes per kilometre.  My pace over the last week has averaged just under 11 so I need to speed it up a bit. This is where Tom and his economy-sized femurs will come in handy once again.

I am aiming to post every five days or so with this blog so this will no doubt be my last post before Christmas Day. I hope you have a lovely one, y'all!