You get out what you put in..

After such an ambitious start to the week, running slowed down a bit by the end of last week. I got up at 6:30 to run on Thursday morning but I was shocked to see it was still pitch black outside. I do have a headlight to run with but I don't like it - bumping along tends to compress the springs inside and the batteries lose contact and turn off the light, for one thing - and only really use it during marathon training when darkness is no excuse. The other thing is it just gives me the heebie-jeebies running through the dark, it reminds me of the mildly scary movies which freak me out for months (the Village, in particular) and also the beam reflects the eyes of all the little animals hiding out in the woods and spying on me - very scary stuff.. So, I didn't go out in the morning and that was my moment gone - I had my 3 year old with me for the rest of the day. Friday I spent all day cooking for a dinner party I was hosting that evening and I didn't get a chance to get out either (though probably could have made the time..).

Which brings me to my topic of the day - how your lifestyle affects your running. Normally, I get to bed around 9:30 / 10pm, up at 6/7 am and eat healthy food. I try to moderate my drinking and run pretty much every day. I do adore cooking though and this week I had decided to cook cassoulet for my friends - delicious, wonderful, not too fatty or greasy but nonetheless extremely filling. We had such a good time, drank champagne and lovely red wine and the guests didn't leave till 1. Now for me, this is disastrous. We'd been out on Thursday night (bed at 12) and now this - Saturday morning I was a zombie. Adam had to be out all day, so I dealt with the kids all day - by 4pm I was a wreck. I did try a 15 minute run first thing but I had zero energy. Alcohol, rich food and no sleep do not a marathoner make. Clearly. Sunday was much better - I did my first 1 hour run since the marathon, and now I'm back on track.

But with the Christmas season ahead I can see I have to watch myself. I'm a complete sucker for champagne, and the English are so generous with it at Christmas parties .. I so want to keep my running up in between training programs as well this year - I lost most of the first 5 months of this year to injuries and lack of motivation and I don't want to do that again. Besides, my son is going to London for surgery in a few weeks and I'll be staying with him the whole time - for a stressful period like that it's important that I'm strong, healthy and well-rested. It's going to be hard while I'm in London - I'll be sharing his bedroom in hospital - but I shouldn't compromise things further..

Famous last words? Look - I'm not promising to stay on the wagon for December (that's what January's for) but I'm going to try and keep it steady. Got my first cross country this Sunday - I'll be posting about how that went..

Till then, happy running to all,

Petra