It's No Sacrifice .....

Over a week with no updates, I'm getting worse - think I need to go on to the naughty step until I've learnt my lesson.  Still, I'm not apologising for it so there.  Here we go:

Monday - Friday: To be honest last week seems so long ago that I can't really remember what happended, certainly nothing of note otherwise I would remember, right?  However, a couple of highlights include marshalling on Tuesday evening for a run hosted by my running club.  Oh, and we have our formal mortgage offer in place so can now proceed with pace with our house purchase.  I now realise I haven't mentioned anything about the house we are buying, but I think I shall leave that post for now and tell you all about it when we exchange.

Saturday: Saturday morning found me sacrificing my lie-in for another 7am run with a running club colleague; sometimes I feel so worthy I almost make myself sick. This time she brought along her three Border Collies and we managed to do a 10-mile run with well over 95% being off-road. I do feel very blessed to be living in such a rural area, the off-road runs are extensive and a real pleasure to run; I am not sure I would show such commitment to my running if I was forced to pound the same old pavements time and time again.

Sunday:  Shorter, slower 'recovery' run today even though my legs were holding up surprisingly well after yesterday.  I belong to an online forum called Tribesports which is geared towards people who participate in sport; pretty much any sport you care to mention is represented and has a group of dedicated followers.  It's an odd site really, quite motivational in its own way as participants are based all over the world and you choose to belong to 'Tribes' that best reflect your interests.  Additionally, participants can create challenges for others to sign up to and complete which is why Sunday morning found me running with a camera in my back pocket.  The challenge I was undertaking was "Run with the Zebras" whereby participants had to complete at least a 5k run with their route covering as many zebra crossings as possible.  The town I live in only has three crossings so I thought I would photograph them to prove I had completed the challenge.  I must say I got some funny looks from passing motorists as I stood there with camera in hand.  But, challenge complete.  Apart from my running, it was a quiet day all-round although we did have Other Half's Aunt and Uncle over for dinner.  Other Half made chilli enchiladas and salad followed by a fresh fruit/double cream/custard dessert.  It wasn't until later that I realised it was Father's Day and perhaps I should've volunteered to do the cooking!

Monday: Late evening run again following meatballs and pasta for dinner.  Ummmm, maybe not such a good idea.  Dinner sat heavy due to not having had enough time to digest it all and as a consequence I felt pretty sluggish.  But I struggled (wo)manfully on through and completed my planned five miles.

Tuesday: Club run tonight and one of the best I have done for a while.  I struggled a bit at the beginning, as is my wont, but the last half of the run went brilliantly and I felt super strong so much so that I managed to 'sprint' (although I use that term loosely) for the finish line.  I generally enjoy all my runs, one way or another, but there is nothing like the feeling you get when all the elements of what makes a great run come together.