Another lockdown day passes, groundhog day in many respects.  Its a weird feeling, being off constantly without working but yet not on holiday.  Its easy to think that this would be bliss but its more difficult than you think.  Guilt from not working, pressure to be reasonably productive and worry about the future.  Some people are setting challenges, learning new skills or picking up where they left off years ago, some use exercise!

Sunday was my opportunity to get a long run in, and when I say a long run I'm talking 30 miles. Before Christmas I signed up to the Hardmoors Virtual Roseberry Topping marathon, being 30 miles.  I tried to plan it so I used a few weeks of lockdown to get some good training in and build up the mileage.  The opportunity arose and with Sarah's ok I planned an early start after taking Bertie for his morning constitution.  He was sorted and all I had to do was get my kit together and get out the door.  I wasn't feeling great but soon came round to the idea and was up for it.  It was dark, cold and frosty so it was a matter of getting going and keeping myself warm.  It was stunning watching the sun come of the frosted landscape and discovering a few new roads and routes.  Time passed as did the miles and I approached the half way marker of 15 miles.  I started getting the feeling that my hip flexor wasn't right, it was tightening up and could become an issue, but I plodded on.  No, its no good I thought, I need to stop and stretch otherwise it's going  to be game over.  I couldn't shake it, I repeated the process of running half a mile, stretching then power walking a bit.  It still didn't pass but I decided I was going to continue rather than redirect and go home.  I'm so glad I pushed on through and mentally took on this challenge working the situation without damaging myself longterm.  It was a bit of battle towards the end, especially I calculated I was going to be short for miles so I needed to add an extra 2.5 miles so the process of back tracking quarter of a mile and then turning round began.  UUUrrggghh!!! I hate doing this but I'd hate getting home then having to go out and do 2.5 miles more, so it was just a matter of suck it and crack on.  5 hours 47 minutes and job done, legs actually felt ok and my feet were in good shape so no complaints.  30 miles in the bag and no serious injuries. Boom!!!!!

I was really pleased with getting out and being relatively comfortable completing 30 miles, although it was all road I don't mind as it was just important to get the time on my feet and miles under my belt. No blisters! Winner.  A few years ago doing something like this would have caused all sorts of problems, I know I know it wasn't fast but steady away and I got it done in a reasonable time, with the knowledge that I can do it faster actually if my hip and been ok. I reckon 5 and half hours would have been about right. In the past this would have broken me, I would have completed it but with battered feet, achy stiff legs and probably a bad back. I wasn't in bad shape after either, a few creaky joints that a bit of stretching cleared up and the feeling of being a little tired but all in all I was in good shape.  What this has done has given me confidence and a desire to get out regularly or as much as I can getting the longer distances in. Balance is everything and taking care not to wreck my body in the process.

When we first went into lockdown the initial few weeks were really tough as we had no idea of what was going on and what to expect.  I decided that I needed to approach this like work and give myself a routine with my exercise.  This began fairly normal with a run, most of the time folowing my programme set by Ronnie.  This escalated rapidly to running every day, almost with addiction as I didn't dare miss a session.  I was in the infancy stage of using the Myzone heart rate monitor and collating the points and competing on a leader board.  This also became addictive and motivational, helping me not only to get out every day but to keep pushing myself.  This soon became not enough, I needed more points to compete at the top level and soon started to include garden workouts experimenting with different things to achieve the best results.  I was loving it, and later I concluded that this was actually my salvation physically and mentally!

Currently I am in charge of home schooling! This is proving to be quite challenging and any aspirations of going on to further my career and diversifying into teaching are rapidly waning.  My patience has been tested to the max and my knowledge lol!  The telegraph crossword feels easy to some of this stuff!!  Sarah is still battling away with working and coping with constant interruptions from the kids, usually complaining about the horrible strict teacher in the other room.  What I'm able to do on these weeks is either get out running or garden workout training, first thing or at 3.30pm once they've finished.  This isn't always possible but I'm trying to get as much in as possible but using it as a recovery week.  In the other weeks when the kids are at their Dads I'm pushing myself to get longer distances in and doubling up with a conditioning session in the afternoon.  I'm also now in the mindset of trying to get a really long run in at weekends trying for every week but definitely every fortnight.

What else did I get up to last year?  Well, a few exciting things happened but the biggest and most exciting was that I got married!!!!! Wahoo!!! This was truly a brilliant weekend I loved it, Sarah and I had a great time and everything went just perfectly.  Sarah looked beautiful and we just had a perfect time at the Wisteria Hotel in Oakham with a few friends.  It was so special and I will treasure it in my heart forever. We didn't fly off to any exotic destination or take any sort of honeymoon it was back to it and crack on trying to get back to some kind of normality as we were still bound by certain limiting restrictions.  It wasn't till December the 27th that we managed to get away for a short break, just the two of us to Cornwall.  This also was amazing, a quaint little cottage with all you could need.  The fire was lit pretty much constantly as the weather was atrocious whilst we were there but they just made it all the more special.  We managed a few coastal runs, exploring the coastline and some very wet, muddy fields!

With restrictions getting tightened as were still away, an impending doom clouded over and we knew something more serious was coming.  Home we came as planned on New Years Day and collected all the kids and crashed!  Next day we collected our new addition to the household, Bertie the dog!  A beautiful Sprocker Spaniel! Then the inevitable happened, one day of work and boom, lockdown came and here we are again!