As I write this I am a nervous woman, today is Tuesday, in the next 12 days I have three cupcake stalls, one 10k race, two days at work, one child's cross country race, one birthday (my 33rd) and a Christmas Fair that I am organising all by myself! They don't make enough Prozac in the world. My house looks like a small thermo nuclear device has been tested in the play room, the laundry room has piles of washing so high Becky and I could use them for hill practise. However, all is not doom and gloom. There have been some massive highs over the last few weeks, our first cupcake stall being one of them. The girls and I worked like Trojans on Saturday morning, designing, icing and decorating 82 cupcakes, and I was thrilled with the results, they looked great.
Our handy work in all its glory!
The training has had its ups and downs. Ups are that I am getting faster. I enjoyed a fast 5K a few weeks ago and smashed my 30 minute target, completing the run in 29 mins and 12 seconds. This was my first sub 30 minute 5k since Emily was born and was a huge confidence boost. I am doing the lovely Percy Pud 10k on Sunday and I would like to do it in under 60 minutes. Hopefully this is not too ridiculous an expectation! The long runs are also getting a little more comfortable, certainly my legs no longer weep unless I push them over eleven miles, and then they only whimper. I have decided to hide from them the fact that long runs after Christmas will all be over 13 miles, why ruin the festive season for them. Downs are the weather; its cold, its wet, and its dark. I feel like I take my life into my own hands every time I run at night, my birthday list has several items of reflective running gear on it. Also fitting the training in is becoming harder, especially alongside planning for the fair, making cupcakes, working a couple of days a week and looking after three children. Example. Sunday is always a busy day of house work, GP reading and fair preparation. By the time I had done the shopping, enough laundry that my family could at least wear clean clothes for the next two days and my GP reading, I only had two hours for a run. Unfortunately this was the same two hours I needed to cook the Sunday dinner complete with roast tatties and yorkshire's that I had promised my daughters. The solution? My treadmill. I programmed it with 10 miles and every so often paused briefly to rush into the kitchen to put in the spuds, mix the yorkshires and put the veg on. After 94 minutes, 10 miles had been completed and dinner was ready. Some days I feel there just aren't enough hours, and its tempting to think that as the marathon isn't until April, the running can wait. But it cant for two reasons. First reason, every mile counts. I need to keep up the momentum and build up the weekly mileage, I have the nasty feeling that I would come a cropper if I leave the training until too late. Second reason, I need the endorphins. As many runners no doubt already know, running gives you a massive endorphin boost and is the perfect stress release. So no matter how busy I get, running needs to stay, as stressed as I am with it in my routine, I may crumble without it.
So thanks for listening once again. Tonight I need to finish making the decorations for the stalls at the fair. Tomorrow I will be making cupcakes, Thursday I'm working, selling cupcakes at lunch time, running six miles and making more cupcakes in the evening before two Christmas fairs over the weekend. So with my piping bag in one hand, home made Prozac (one part chocolate, two parts ice cream) in the other and trainers firmly strapped to my feet, I face the next twelve days with confidence. Here's to the twelve days of Team Little Legs!
Please follow us on our face book pages
www.facebook.com/TeamLittleLegs and www.facebook.com/TommysChristmasFair
or visit our fundraising page to give us a much needed boost.
http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/RachelMarsden1
