Disappointment. Hard Work. Trauma. Relief. Delight. Milestones. Excitement. All part of life ... and running.

6 weeks on from my last post and I'm (fingers crossed) almost ready for my first race since March 2010.

When I last posted, I was feeling hopeful of running the 2nd Yateley 10K but a heavy cold stopped me running for a week and the following week, although I achieved the planned mileage, I was really tired and still feeling the effects of the cold so that put an end to those plans. Disappointing certainly ... but not the end of the world.

Since then, I've put in a lot of hard work with the exception of this week ... which I'll come to later. I've continued to run 2 mile recovery runs on Tuesday - and they are now very relaxed runs just to ease any stiffness from Sundays LSR. On Thursday, I've been running 5 mile tempo runs, gradually upping the pace to just over 9 minutes for the 3 quicker miles. Last week I ran a 6 mile tempo run at 9:40 pace for the 4 quicker miles, completing the run in 59:45 ... my quickest 6 mile run since January 2010. On Sundays, I've completed 4 successive 7 mile LSRs, again gradually upping the pace each time with my average pace at 10:49, 10:41, 10:32, and 10:24 (today) for the four runs.

I was planning another 6 mile tempo run on Thursday with the aim of running at 9:30 for the 4 quicker miles but I was feeling a bit under the weather and decided to run Friday instead. Sadly, Friday's run didn't happen as Lizzie, our pet cat of 15 years who had been unwell and not eating for a few days, was diagnosed with advanced lymphoma and not wanting her to suffer any more we decided it was best to put her to sleep. A traumatic day for our family, I didn't realise how attached we'd all become to her.

But there has also been good news. On my latest visit to the specialist after a series of tests I was relieved and delighted to be given the all-clear. What the problem was during the winter remains a mystery but it's been good to have a full-service and MOT at my age - especially when you pass without any failures!

I also reached a personal milestone ... my 1000th mile. Now I know some of you manage that (and more) every year but I'm quite chuffed to have got there, especially after the difficulties of the last 12 months ... even if it did take me the best part of two and a half years!

So I think I'm ready, finally, on Wednesday, August 3rd, to run a 10K race, hopefully in under 60 minutes ... though I might have to reassess that if the temperatures start to rise! It's a nice feeling to be excited about running in a race again.

Enjoy your running!