My post tonight contains some personal details I wouldn't normally include in my running blog but I have chosen to do so today because of the major impact they have on my running at this time and to leave them out would negate one of the reasons I created this blog ... to write honestly about my highs and lows as a runner. Please, please do not post comments of sympathy ... I'm sure everyone reading this post has challenges in their owns lives which impinge on their running ... mine are just having an impact at the moment and hence why I've included them.

It's a tough time in my household at the moment. I won't go into too many details - I could write a book on the subject - but we look after my 97 year old mother-in-law and although her mind is sound, her body is failing her. To cut a long story short, we are having the devil of a job getting her to bed at night. This is mainly a mental challenge as she is simply so frightened she doesn't want to go to bed. It's been building for a while but it can literally take hours to get her to bed and the last two nights have been particularly challenging with my wife and I eventually getting fitful nights sleep in a room next to hers, sleeping on mattresses laid on the floor.

Sleep is such an important part of the recovery process for a runner - it certainly is for me anyway - and today my lack of sleep over the past two nights made running almost impossible. Today's run - my last before the Yateley 10K on Wednesday - was supposedly a 3-mile easy run but I really wasn't up to much more than a jog, my mile times being 11:15, 11:07, and 10:26. Having seen the weather forecast for next week - 28C is forecast for Tuesday and Wednesday - I have to admit to a tinge of fear about running hard in those conditions or even about running at all.

I'm hopeful that things will be easier over the next few days as we have now "moved-in" to the room next to her. It's almost time to test that theory - wish me luck!

Enjoy your running!