Like marathon training, with ultra training comes guilt. It can be quite intrusive on family time. It is something I feel aware of most of the time, and it has made me a little selfish and disciplined! More on that in a moment.
There are some things I won’t stop for ultra training, and Parkrun is one of them. Parkrun doesn’t always fit in with my training programme, and often I should be doing a longer run, back to back with the same on Sundays. I get round this by doing another run after Parkruns. Some of The Ely Runners Beginners graduates took part at Littleport Parkrun today; this was a total joy for me as I am sure it was for some of the other coaches. It was brilliant to see such superb performances, and more importantly, people smiling, and clearly hooked!
When I got home I went straight out with the ultra vest, complete with the new collapsible water bottles with straws: these were recommended to me, and they are superb! On pulling the straw up a fraction, you bite the end and take a suck of water. Simple! This is why I look so happy in the pic out at Roswell Pits! Anything that makes the whole effort simple and efficient makes me feel more relaxed.
It is important not to allow the family to be casualty of ultra training: off we all went for a huge lunch together, which was superb, followed by a rest, to let things settle, and then a swim with the boys. Back to the training being intrusive on family life; this is negated somewhat by making every effort to do family stuff, no matter how tired you are, and not letting children know how tired you are. I have to become as disciplined and selfish around making sure I do family stuff as I do around training. It’s not easy. Ultra training and family life are not good bedfellows, but it can be made to work. We had a superb swim, and my lads surprised me with their progress in the pool: we all cracked out a good few lengths before heading home. Then I fell asleep on the sofa for two hours: very rare for me!
Tomorrow is the Ely Festive 5K, which I can treat as training and family time as the boys want to run it. I will have to head out on my own afterwards! More on that soon!
Justin has signed up for what? 