A year on

I have had an enforced break from training lately. Having been sick on and off for the last 6 weeks has been frustrating, more than anything, but has given me time to do other things, which was not bad.
It hasn't been a complete break - I have had a few runs with the dogs (including one in a howling storm), I have run with the cross country class at school (hardly an endurance run, but loads of fun nonetheless) and have had some long walks on the mountain. No cycling though (weather has been miserable too!) or swimming.
This break from training aside, D and I had our first holiday pretty much since last year. It felt like a real break, we had a great time and absolutely fell in love with Rome. We were only there for 2 days, but really took the city in, walked around, smelled, tasted and enjoyed Rome so much. It was my first city-break holiday (I am more of an active holiday person, as might have been made clear on this blog) but I would go again in a heartbeat!

Back in Athens I had a visit from J - we had such a lovely time, helped along by beautiful sunny weather - spring is finally here! J is getting ready for a Marathon, her first and has made an amazing commitment. It is an inspiration. As was my other friend, M, running her first 10k race (on pure guts it seemed, as much of her training had been sabotaged by illness)! All in all I was a very proud friend last weekend and didn't mind being support group one bit!

It has also been a year from that Saturday last spring when I lost my dad. I miss him every day, he is with me in everything I do, but the pain has softened a bit. I feel lucky I had such a dad and his life and death is an inspiration to me to live my life to the full. I am certain he would still be very proud of me.

The long and short of it...

The long and short of it is, I love running. I enjoy going out, on almost any weather, almost any time of day and almost any terrain and simply running. I enjoy running with D, running on my own, running with my dogs, running with hundreds of others. I enjoy running after swimming and biking and I enjoy running out the door. I love running with music, podcasts or just listening to the world around me.

But when it comes to it, I really like running with a purpose. Training for a racemakes me get out on a rainy (and windy) Friday after school, when all I want to do is curl on the sofa and watch TV. And so with that in mind, I have decided to finally take the plunge and train for a marathon. D has been training for the M. Alexandros marathon in April.

Here's the deal. It won't be fast and it most likely won't be pretty. I am not ready to train or race a marathon, but herein lies the challenge. I am also injured: as it transpired on my last long run last Sunday, my old back injury has left me with a weak vastus medialis, from a damaged nerve root, which means my right knee unstable. And, just to top it all off, I have been sick for the last week, so my ever-important long run, tomorrow, is in danger.

And so in my mind I have been trying to decide, might it be better to go short, but fast, or is long (and slow) the better option. Given my biomechanical limitations when running, as well as the time I have to train, short and fast is clearly the more sensible option. Training to get faster over 5 or even 10 km, a very valid goal and one I would definitely like to concentrate at some point in my running life, has a strong pull. But not as strong as running a marathon at this stage. And so, purely to tick the box and enjoy the experience, on 11th April, I will be completing a marathon, even if I have to walk some (most?) of it.

Hope to finish with a smile!

Dafni 10k, Jan 2011

Smiles, blood blisters and sunshine, Ag. Kosmas 10k, Nov. 2010

Finishing with a smile! (Note, number 3 again, the joys of having a "foreign" surname starting with a B!)

" Smile Like you Mean it!"

Here I am on my last (and one of the first for a while) cycling sessions last Sunday, listening to the Killers song and smiling to my heart's content.

As D is mainly concentrating on running this season, I have to do most of the cycling alone. It was a beautiful January morning, crisp but fairly warm, sunny and with very little wind (no gloves!!). Bliss!

It was, as I mentioned above, one of my first rides this season. I have started to, slowly, get back into training and planning some fun racing for this season. Next race, another 10k this Sunday, though due to a foot injury I have been off for around 3 weeks and just hoping to finish in one piece.

After that my longer term target is, for the second time, the Astroman 1/2 Iron Race. It's a race I did last year (and suffered a lot!) but this time I will hopefully have more than 5 weeks of training behind me and less heat and humidity on the day.

I am excited to be having a second stab at this race and look forward to the training. It is a hilly race - have a look at the photo and note the drop behind me. I better get some good riding in.

Other races I will hopefully do this year: a 20km (in preparation for Astroman) and if all goes well and I feel up to it (ie have not got injured) the Athens Classic Marathon in October/November (I wonder when the organisers will let us know...) Missed the 2,500 anniversary of the race, but will be very happy to race the 2,501st one!

2011 - The Year of Adventure

I am leaving 2010 behind with little regret - yes, it was a tough year, but I feel that I did everything I had to do. As years go it will stay in my mind forever as one of the toughest. Yet now, in retrospect, my thoughts naturally gravitate to the good moments, the sweet times and it seems like that bad stuff didn't happen to me - like it was just a bad dream.

So, starting the New Year with a rush of hop

e. I don't have resolutions, I rarely do (I tend to make my resolutions mid-year and as they come). But I do have things I want to achieve and

things I want to do, just for fun. D made me this piggy bank to put them all in - I won't be sharing them here (and bore you all to tears.)

And so the year started well, with a hike up Mt Parnitha, which we have now vowed to get to know better. For those of you not familiar with the geography of the peninsula of Attica, it is basically a triangle jutting out into the Aegean. The city of Athens is almost surrounded by mountain - Immitos (where we used to do our Monday night runs), Pendeli (we live on and run on daily with the dogs) and Parnitha. Parnitha is the tallest of the lot (at 1330 m, 14 meters less than Ben Nevis, the highest mountain on the British Isles.)

We headed out there on a foggy and chilly New Year's day, taking along

our three d

ogs and Tami, a young dog we have been looking after during this festive season. We were not

sure where we were going, although we had some GPS guidance, but we decided to walk to the nearest refuge, Bafi, by way of a path that seemed to follow the road (oh yes, this is a mountain refuge you can drive to... another one.)

Here is D leading the way on the path with (from the left, Spencer, Tami, Fifi and little Hardy.)

The refuge towering above. We could see there was a lit fire, so we hurried on up.

Not far to go!

Bread and bean soup in the refuge.

The view (a bit cloudy)

Just before we began the climb down - dogs still with plenty of energy!

Our little adventure was just the thing we needed on New Year's Day. To remind us that we need to get out, to enjoy Greece, for as long as we are here, and discover new places, new mountains and new trails!

Happy New Year to all!

'Tis the Season...

I am loving this holiday! I am really enjoying having some down time. It does feel like it is the first real holiday in over a year. This time last year my dad was around, but our Christmas was so bitter sweet and fraught with fears for what was to come, as well as the bitter realisation that it was our last Christmas with my dad.

This year I finally feel that I have emerged from a tunnel and I am enjoying life again. I have loved having the luxury of time to do all the things that I love: to write and read, to swim and run, to walk the dogs and chat with Duncan about nothing and everything. To cook and bake, to go for coffee with friends... Oh the luxury of time!

Things I have really enjoyed:

1. Having my morning coffee/tea brought to me in bed, and staying in said bed, reading and writing until I feel ready to get up (which is usually around 9.30)

2. Having some time to finally tidy up the house and sort out my study/spare room. It is currently housing a lovely dog we are looking after while her family are in the States, but once her box is gone, my study will be tidier and an even better space to work from.

3. Having time to write this blog, but also to start my other (work-related blog). Check it out here: http://educatingtheable.blogspot.com/

4. Earl Grey

5. Leisurely walks with the dogs, without worrying about daylight. Usually the dogs have to be walked/exercised after work, which makes a tight turn-around. At the moment we can walk them anytime... even in the middle of the day. Very pleased with that!

6. Seeing friends and people I have not seen/spoken to in ages.

7. Swimming during the daytime. Which, in essence, means not having to fight for a lane or a shower with 20 7year olds.

8. Catching up with essential (and "purely for enjoyment") reading.

9. Making some nice food.

10. Eating some nice food.

Hope you are all enjoying the festive season. From the B household: Happy Holidays!

Something to live by...

My new something-to-live-by is this: "You can do anything you want, but you cannot do everything." Simple and succinct, as truth usually is.

I blatantly stole the phrase from Karnazes' book 50/50 (http://www.ultramarathonman.com/but it spoke to me so loudly at the time when I read it and its relevance on my own life has been proven pretty much every day since.

Few of us have the luxury of time. I know that both D and I try to cram so much into our day that often other things suffer. In the last few months I repeatedly started the day with a to-do list of 10+ items, only to have achieved 5 by the end of it. The problem is, and it is obvious, we cannot do everything. There are only 24 hours in a day and, if like me you love your bed, 8 of those are spent in bed. And, if like me you have a full time job, the other 8 you are at work. I won't go into the mathematics of time management - I am sure there are people out there (yes, you with children, jobs and training for IM's) who are far better qualified to give you the low down on how to juggle. No, this post is about the realisation that oftentimes, less is more.

I had a long hard think about it and I did put down my priorities. When you write it down in black and white, it is so much clearer. And life is now less stressful. Occasionally, and to some, my existence might seem ascetic, but it is just the way I like it! I prefer to take the dogs out for a run, than to go out for coffee. I would rather spend my Saturday morning writing, than ironing. And if not drying my hair with a hair dryer gives me 20 mins more in the pool... easy choice!

New member of the family Hardy (remember the puppies from the mountain -she is the sole survivor!) enjoying a well-earned rest after her first ever run on the mountain with the big boys, pictured below.

Here we go again!

I have been reading Dean Karnazes' book 50/50, about him running 50 marathons in 50 days. Not the best written book, but all the same has some good info for first time runners and made very pleasant reading on the plane and while back in Greece. If nothing else

it has inspired me to put a race on the calendar.

I have been running consistently for the last several months, but mostly with dogs and just for fun. I have also been trying new footwear (the Vibram Five Fingers, more on that later) and have been trying to take it easy, not running more than 20 to 30 mins on them, to let my feet (and I guess rest of body) adapt. The other reason for the changes in my running is that I now run with the dogs every time I go for a run. As D is away and the dogs

still need to be exercised, every run I do, 3 or 4 times a week, the dogs come with me. That means I cannot always do what I want to do, intervals, hills, track etc, but I have to be flexible to the wishes (and needs) of my furry running companions. That, of course, includes several peeing breaks on the runs and plenty of time sniffing bushes. Oh... and picking up bits of dead sheep and carrying them for the duration of each run. A couple of weeks ago I found a scapula on the back of the car, courtesy of Spencer. Not to mention the vertebrae he now carries with him on each and every run.

Needless to say, planned and structured training has given way to a mo

re relaxed approach to running (though I still

use my stopwatch on every run!)

It has been good for me, I have been focusing on the pleasure of being out there, on the mountain, the companionship of running with dogs, the sensations underfoot (not always good, as my bruised feet will attest to) and a more mindful way of running.

However, and after reading Karnazes' book I decided it might be time to enter another race. To put another target on the calendar and start working towards it. At first I had the crazy thought of running a marathon (the original route) on my 30th birthday. Just go out the door and run from Marathon to Athens. Ok... maybe not just go out the door, it would take a but of planning and support. And although I still toy with the idea, especially as the 30th looms (1 month to go!) I realised that if I were to do it, I would probably end up injured and out for the season. So, as a wiser, less impulsive, soon-to-be 30 year old runner I decided to enter a 10k. Target time? N

ot sure. But I know that I will go out and enjoy it! It will also be two days after D gets back, so it will be a nice way to celebrate his coming home.

It is not the only race I will be doing this winter. I have also been training for a 4.5km open water swim on 5th December. I had not been in the pool for a while, but I needed a reason to get back in and focus on something... and here it is. Hope it doesn't get to

o cold between now and then and the water temp remains reasonable - as much as I enjoy hardship, 4.5 km is a long way to be freezing for.

Fifi and I on the mountain this morning. Ran 7.5 km and we both felt it by the end! Spencer, younger and fitter, was still full of energy at the end of it.