Moving further afield!! by Heather_B

Hi everyone, thought it was about time to let you all know that I am still in the land of the living!!

So where do I start about what has been happening the last 2 months since London?  Well very stupidly I decided that just after a marathon would be a good time to start racing short distances.  In the 7 weeks following London I raced every single week - they were Belfast marathon relay (3.2m), forest race (2.8m), club handicap (5m), forest race (4.2m), 5k race, forest race (3.2m) & club handicap (2.8m).  I started off reasonably well & would say i felt not bad for about the 1st 3/4 races.  Unfortunately that is when the wheels started to come off.  Every race seemed to get harder & harder, I struggled more, couldn't fight throught the pain & fatigue.  My running was going backwards, not progressing.  But of course I didn't recognise that what I needed was a break!  On the last forest race I actually stopped & walked a couple of times, then was so devastated, tried to up my training thinking I wasn't working hard enough.  Last week at the club handicap it was 2.8miles with approx 900ft climb.  This was the straw that broke the camel's back.  I could hardly finish the race.  I tried to go for a long run 3 days later &  managed 3 miles before returning home in tears.  So I took almost a week off & have eased myself back in this week, with some very slow miles.  I feel a lot better & have started to sleep properly again (I havent been sleeping well for a while.)  I think it is a lesson learnt on how valuable taking time out after a marathon is.  Also I sometimes forget that at 41 it might just take my body that wee bit longer to recover than it used to!!

Apart from this, life is good in the Baxter household.  The weather in NI has been gorgeous for a good bit of June, which makes a change from the rain we normally get!  Glenn has finished his GCSE's & is hoping to go back to school in September depending on his grades.  Our holiday to Bulgaria is 6 weeks away, & I am really looking forward to getting away from some R&R!! 

Having a quiet Saturday night for a change, really enjoying Glastonbury.  Tomorrow I am for a fundraising barbque in the Football Club -it is for the Help the Heroes charity which is such a worthwhile cause.  I always think back to that guy who was running in London with only 1 leg & arm. 

Hope everyone has been keeping well & you are enjoying your running.

I will try to not leave it as long the next time!