Getting back on track

It's been a strange time in the half-marathon training camp lately. I'm enjoying the feeling of training again; the thrill of running and pushing myself and continually improving every time. On the flipside, I'm also learning about the challenges of scheduling and completing said training as a team. It should have been obvious, but it's surprisingly difficult to co-ordinate three people multiple times per week. When it was just me, I could do whatever run I wanted whenever the mood struck. Now I find myself working around other people. It's not bad - far from it, I love running with them - but it's a strange experience after 18 months of solo work.

We're good for Monday, right? Right, Sally? Lookin' at you, Sally. Monday, yes?

Currently my wife has spent the last two weeks in bed with a horrible sickness, so Jodie and I have continued training at a good pace. I'm really pleased with how both of them are improving and pushing themselves to do better. I remember how good it felt to finish a challenging run with my legs still attached, so getting to see the satisfaction on their faces is absolutely wonderful. In fact, I think the ladies are doing even better than I did originally. My runs were often broken up with a short break to catch my breath halfway through. Not for these girls. They keep going and they push even harder during the second half. Colour me gobsmacked.

With each of us having to travel from entirely different parts of the city at different times of the evening, I tend to get to the gym first. That's good for me - I can hop on the treadmill and try to push myself to run as far as possible before they arrive. Once we're all in place, we can get to work and start training. It's working well so far.

I am a little concerned about the about of time we have left. I have every faith that Nikki and Jodie are going to smash it on the day - but that day is fast approaching. In fact, at the time of writing, there are currently 110 days until the Bath Half. That's really not long at all. it will be January by the time we complete the Couch to 5k training programme. After that, we'll really have to push ourselves to reach a decent distance.

Like I said, I know they'll knock it out of the park on the day. But getting to that day is going to be challenging. I have a funny feeling I'm going to be the one playing catch-up when the time comes!