Decorating and blister planning

Training was limited to Monday, Wednesday and Friday this week, but such has been my level of inactivity in recent weeks, that this represented a better week. The weather has been great hasn't it? Clocks go forward, sun comes out, wind drops and suddenly summer's coming.

In shorts and t.shirt (global warming?) I did a two-lap walking session based on the coast road-Ballaragh loop on Monday. I took the tougher direction option (up the coast road ) and it felt OK. Not fast, but OK. Then my mind wandered to the enormity of the required Parish mileage. I worked it out that the Parish would be approx. 18 laps of the Ballaragh loop! I decided to think about something a bit more positive and spent the rest of the session trying to work out how many blister plasters I'd need this year...

Tuesday was a day of decorating (upper body repetitions). It went well until I ran out of white emulsion with just half of the final ceiling coat to go. Anyone got any tips regarding fitting coving..?

A good run on Wednesday. Sunny but windy and cold, so no shorts. From our house, up through the farm top fields to the summit of Cronk y Vaar (first checkpoint in Snaefell race). On over Mullagh Ouyr and down to cross the mountain road at Brandywell before climbing Benn y Phott. 45 mins up - didn't feel fast, but I ran all the way and that was the aim. Slight dampner was the onset of a 'sore ankle/shin' on the descent. It got worse during the evening and I knocked the plans for a longer run on Thursday on the head.

Still a bit sore on Friday morning at work, so I decided to finish the week with another walk. Did my usual trick of not leaving enough time before picking the boys up from school and ended up doing one and a half laps of the Ballaragh loop instead of two. A bit of a slow struggle I'm afraid. Perhaps more significant was the posting of my entry for the Mountain Marathon. I'm looking on it as a guaranteed long session. I haven't done enough long sessions and I predict a struggle from St Johns. Still, I don't remember my last Mountain Marathon being too awful. Then again it was 22 years ago...