Not Drowning, Training

I have been feeling a touch despondent about my lack of progress lately. There's been a lot of, well, let's just call it carbo-loading going on and, in terms of training, it's been two steps forward and one step back. It's either the heatwave, work, school assemblies or [insert excuse that seems totally reasonable at the time] getting in the way of a full training week or, as was the case with last week, illness, when the gastroenteritis fairy paid us a visit. (She's sort of like the tooth fairy except her gift is not money).

I thought I would be a lean, strong, running powerhouse by now and that is not quite the case. And the 10km Around the Bridges run is on April 10th - less than two weeks away. Aargh! I'm under-prepared! While I'm tempted to switch to the 5km course, I will stick to running the 10km that I've committed (and paid) to do. On D-Day (or should that be M-Day) on November 6th, I am sure I will be worrying that I am under-prepared and wonder if it's not to late to switch to 21km. I may as well get used to feeling those panicky feelings and running despite them.

Speaking of carbo-loading, this guy took it to somewhat of an extreme. Chicago-based Joe D'Amico ran the  Los Angeles Marathon on March 20th and only ate McDonalds in the 30 day lead-up to the race. Mr McRunner said  “I love McDonald’s and I love running, and this was a great way to combine the two.”  Really. You know Joe, I love houseboats and Hugh Jackman but I don't try and combine those ... wait, I am seeing a way that could actually work.

Thinking of Hugh Jackman on my houseboat has improved my mood. So, we will end on an upbeat kind of note and think about what has been achieved in the last three and a half months. When this project began, I could only walk, not run. When I did walk, it was a real achievement to get under 10 minutes a kilometre. Now, I can run/walk (still in the Couch Potato app) at an average of about 9 minutes a kilometre. And training is for an hour (when I get to it, of course) alternating 5 minutes of running with only 1 minute of walking in between. I cover about twice the distance I used to - and a 6km walk to work from school doesn't seem like a big deal anymore.  It's easy to focus on what I can't do yet but at the same time, I am not quite the unfit Lazy McLazyPants of the not-too-distant past. And the other major goal is the fundraising which is also ticking along well. The one-third mark was passed a few weeks ago and the SEE ProjectO'Meter is now at $3540.00 (thanks!) with plans underway for another fundraiser in June or July. So, that's all good! And thanks, Hugh. You really cheered me up.