Rosedawn Ramblings

My big goal for 2020 is the 100km ultramarathon Race to the Castle in June. My training plan is geared around building up my miles over the next five months to be able to complete distance. It's not about time, it's about getting to the finish in however long it takes. But alongside that big, very scary goal, I've got a few more manageable bitesize challenges to help me get there. Some are about long runs or weekly mileage targets. Some relate to races or race strategy. Some relate to how I want to feel mid-run or at the end when it's only over. Today was one of those days, the Essar Four Villages Half Marathon. I wanted it to be more than just a training run. I wanted to test my speed, my endurance, my racing strategy and my mental strength. I've been working hard in training with interval sessions, hill reps and tempo runs. So I set mini goals (just for me) for the time I wanted to reach the half way point, my average mile pace, the consistency of my

At the start of 2019, I set myself the challenge of publishing a blog post every week during the year - 52 weeks, 52 posts. My motivation was to get back to something I loved doing, something I'd missed, something I'd started several years ago but then lost my way. I thought I'd run out of things to write about. On Sunday, I achieved my goal. I wrote about eating profiteroles for breakfast. It wasn't always easy. Some posts were longer than others. Some were only written right at the last moment. I did it! I crossed the finish line with a smile on my face (mainly thanks to those profiteroles ). But what did I learn? About myself, about running and about life in general? 1. Inspiration can come from anyone and anything ... it can be easy to think that you need something 'big' to get you started. At the start of 2019, I certainly had lots of inspiration to run and blog as I completed an ultramarathon along the River Thames. I've also been inspi