Discovering Becks

I've been known that running the Berlin marathon was on the cards for about 7 months now, after securing a place in the ballot. My hotel is booked, my mum is coming along as my support squad and all that's left to do now is train and book my flights. Both of which I should probably get on...

While I might be less prepared with my flights my training officially started last week. There's now 70 days to go and I'm feeling motivated to stick to a running schedule after a month of doing whatever. As life is still a bit chaotic at the moment my training plan is going to involve just 3 runs a week - intervals, medium "tempo" and a long run - and the rest will be filled with the usual cross training of my yoga, cycling and aerial antics. I've written everything down and stapled it into the back of my diary and will be ticking off each session as I'm done.

So what did my first week of look like?

Monday: 3.5 mile run. Was meant to be a nice easy pace but I just went with what felt comfortable which was a lot faster than the 8:30-9 min/mile I'd intended. Typical Becks.

Tuesday: 6 x 800 m with 90 second rest. This was my first interval session I'd done in about a year and the only one I've ever attempted by myself. I've figured out how to get my Garmin to do intervals so I guess I have no excuse not to do them. I actually surprised myself with how even my reps were.

Wednesday: Silks

Thursday: Rest - it was my sister's birthday and while I had intended to do my long run before heading home I got stuck in the office and take away Nando's seemed much more appealing...

Friday: Long run - 10 miles and Pole. Added a few runs up Primrose Hill in the middle because it seemed a good idea at the time. It's the longest run I've done since Coniston and I was definitely starting to feel it by the end.

Saturday: Rest - I cycled to and from work and did a Yogaia video in the evening before having an early night.

Sunday: British 10K and 35 mile training ride for RideLondon - You can read more about my British 10K experience here but in summary it was good! I also did my penultimate long ride for RideLondon in some quite windy conditions

Do I have a goal in mind for Berlin? Yes... but my main goal is just to enjoy my first marathon abroad and to finish with a big cheesy smile on my face!

Honestly, what happened to June? One second I was spending the weekend in the lake district running a marathon, the next it's July and I'm starting my Berlin training plan. So what have I been up to?

• I ran the marathon in Coniston. It was a really great weekend, even if the marathon was a struggle because of the heat. I had a lot of fun catching up with my friends and even though running the marathon was probably the hardest thing I've done I'd do it all over again. Although slightly cooler weather would be preferred!
  
• I landed myself a weekend job to help with the impending end-of-funding-still-need-to-write-my-thesis-ahhhhh status that's about to happen. It feels like I'm 16 again, but I'm enjoying it although I really need to work on organising my time better.
  
• While running took a bit of a backseat in June, I've been enjoying my cycling training for RideLondon 46 and a shiny new road bike may have snuck it's way into my life...
  
• A lot has been going on with my PhD. I gave my final year presentation and won a prize for my talk which meant I got put forward to competing for 'Best PhD Student'. It was a surprise and preparing for the second presentation was stressful but it's shown me that maybe I'm not so bad at public speaking and know more than I thought I did about my subject. Which leads me onto...
  
• There's been a lot of eating and quite a bit of drinking this month. It feels like if I haven't been indulging because I've been stressed, then I've been doing it to celebrate. Hello food baby and salad cravings.

Last week I found out that I'd won a place in the ballot for the Ride London-Surrey 46 mile cycle event at the end of July. Approximately half an hour after turning down the internship I was supposed to be doing over the summer. This morning I bit the bullet and paid my entry fee.

Within 10 minutes I had a mild panic about being able to ride 46 miles in under 4 hours. Standard.

I'd entered the ballot on a bit of a whim, thinking 1) I probably wouldn't get in and 2) that even if I did I'd be doing an internship abroad and wouldn't be able to take part anyway. Since getting my trusty hybrid about a year ago I've discovered that cycling is something that I really enjoy. Even in the depths of winter where there didn't seem to be enough layers I could put on to keep me warm! I've also found there's something strangely comforting about cycling home in the pouring rain and then being able to snuggle up in a cosy set of pyjamas while munching on warm avocado on toast and stewed apples with almond butter... Or is that just me?

I've been thinking about stepping outside the comfort of my (almost) daily half hour cycle to and from the train station. I think a part of me wanted a new challenge, probably caused by the over excitable Tigger in my head that seems oddly attracted to doing anything long distance. Thoughts of getting a road bike have crossed my mind too many times. What's that n + 1 rule about bikes again?

So I guess this is my new challenge. I might not make the cut off time. I might not be able to cycle up the hills. I might come last. I'm just going to go out and see what happens. It'll be a welcome change of focus between running the Coniston marathon and starting up training for the Berlin marathon. Plus it gives me an excuse to go out and get that shiny road bike.

Ride London-Surrey 46, I'm coming for you.