Ups and Downs

This is a long road to the marathon. 

On the one hand, I am probably the fittest I've ever been in my adult life. Today I ran 2.43 km in 15 minutes. I ran something close to that around this time last year - and then I had to lie down for five minutes to recover. Today I simply carried on with my gym session. 

This is good for me...

Another benefit: I decided a little while ago that as I was training for a marathon I was going to eat whatever I damn well wanted to. No, I'm not eating junk food - my recipes at the moment include lots of pasta for the carbohydrates and lots of chicken for the lean protein. But I'm also not feeling even a shred of guilt about succumbing to a mid-afternoon chocolate bar. And I'm definitely eating more than I would normally. 

I like being this fit. I like having lost 5kg since I started training. I like fitting back into those trousers. I like eating what I want. 

On the other hand, I'm blooming tired of exercising. 

Every other day I'm going out for a run, or climbing onto the treadmill for a run, or going to the gym to do my cross-training and strength work to support my running. Sometimes - especially after a long day at work and when it's a cold evening - I really just want to go home and curl up on the sofa. But I go to the gym and run. 

... this is not.

I'm also sick of the winter. Last weekend's weather was lovely for running as far as I was concerned: sunshine and cool air. This weekend is looking much more wintery. I will be running in layers, hat and gloves again. Bah, humbug. 

Still, I have recently begun to rethink my stance on never running again after April. I have no doubt that immediately following the marathon I will be extremely anti-running. But after that... Well, being able to run five miles in an hour without curling up and gasping for breath is a nice level of fitness to be at. Running is probably the best way to keep it up. 

No promises, though.