not much time to go in details now but the last week or so have been a bit  crap, marathon training wise, along other good things (non marathon wise).  1. Blood sugar weirdly low unexpectedly, which needs investigating, and probably eating more. But who can eat in this heat. 2. Some other stresses that I can't divulge yet 3. Last weeks I have been training, alright, but what I didn't do/didn't have time for were the uber long runs at weekends. Skipped about 3 of these. This means I feel it now a bit, when I'm plunging in the most Intense month of training, where distance and intensity are upped to absolute max, so I can taper during the whole of September . This means discipline with sleep, nutrition, alcohol, training. A bit military style, this summer. 4. Panicky a bit, which I hadn't before at all. Need yo unpick what's what and what's not. Can't quote do that laying about with a margarita whilst the kids play happily- when they don't fight.    

  As of 6 pm today, 68 days 15 hours 23 minutes until the Berlin marathon. Life is happening at the same time as training.  The heat. The trip to Brighton. The visiting parents. The heat is nice, and suffocating. No long run this past weekend. Panicking... hmm kind of, butot yet, not quite. Fitness is good because of the indoor workouts with the fan blasting on my everything. Tara resuming training nicely after Covid. This past weekend we went to Brighton for one night, the whole family. Having done a 7ish km before leaving on Saturday, I indulged into a late night beer and chat on the seafront balcony - bliss... Brighton is so buzzing and alive, and somewhat a culture shock for my visiting parents from Romania - they said it looked like a carnival! Sunday morning I wished I ran along the shore like the tens of other people.. but my hangover was noticeable... a good thing, I suppose, since I have been indulging in alcohol less and less since running regularly. Then, the family. My pare

 It's been a very busy few weeks, to say the least. As I sit here on my phone with my coffee with 20mins to spare until sprinting (literally) to school to pick up the boys, I feel I have accumulated a huge sleep debt, and not only that, the debt is taking the payment now - literally brain shutting down and falling asleep.  The last few days have been exciting - hoosband back from his travels, my parents visiting for a little while, our friend's garden party, Leo's birthday extravaganza, the weather behaving like summer, the hellium balloons still sort of intact, the cat flea treatment seems to have worked, the patio pressured-washed, the pot of Romanian borsh on the stove cooked by my mum, the bouncy castle STILL here and with the possibility of inflating it again later this pm, the little 40mins run done in the morning BEFORE the school run. And that's  where I feel proud! The training has been slacking due to childcare logistics and Leo's party planning - but I co

  It's been a while since I last sat down with this browser open. I am alone with the kids for almost a fortnight, and almost half-way through it, it's going good.  The only thing that's upside down is the t r a i n i n g   s c h e d u l e , as I have to do my long runs and the bulk of my training during the school hours - as well as other things that I need headspace for. I love being alone in this space at home, and that's why probably my runs have been slightly shorter and ever-so-slightly faster. The feeling of unlocking the door after the school drop and run, and getting in, is like getting in a nice warm bath with the knowledge that nobody will talk to me in the next couple of hours if I time it right.  To my absolute delight, my heart rate during any run recently is low, aerobic, even when I pick up the pace, and even on long distances towards the end. This is the holy grail. My legs have springy days, and heavy-led days, but the heart rate is consistently aerobi