Salty Eyelids FTW

Sunday night bloggy time again!

It's not been a proper 15 mile run unless you have salt crystallising on your
eyelids and chocolate milk smeared all over your face...

This week has been great...I think. I'll admit I've been burning the candle at both ends a little bit. After heading out to Sneaky Pete's on Tuesday for Matt Norris & The Moon album launch (you can listen on Spotify here) I got up and ran 5miles in the rain before scooting off to Glasgow for a hefty day of bid team meetings and digging into my team's plan of attack at work. Then I thought it was a bright idea to go to a Bonobo set at Sub Club (I was seriously the oldest, squarest, soberest person there - the walls were practically dripping with Glasgow Art School types with no spatial awareness) which finished at 3am...and then I drove my buddies back to Edinburgh in the daylight. 

Winning at life. I am so young right now.

Tatty in da cluuuurrrb..

 Anyway - I also smacked down a good 7.2miler on Friday evening after a fresh orange at the pub, and got shat on by a pigeon on my way back through the Meadows. How nice. Needless to say the final 2miles home were...swift (no bird pun intended). 

Some say it's lucky. 

Some...

And then today was my 15.2miler (ASK ANY MARATHONER AND THE POINT TWO MATTERS, OK?!) - long, kinda boring, hard work, but I got there with something still in the tank I think. A night at The Basement probably didn't help. I figure that if I can complete all my long runs in Edinburgh weather, with Edinburgh HILLS, with a slight hangover, race day should be a breeze. 

I jest - I've been taking it rather easy on the nights out with friends. But it's as important to seize the moment and embrace the enjoyment of life's spontaneity as it is to run long and run slow. I'm trying to have a little bit of everything in moderation...and running in droves.

This evening I bumped into an old friend of mine, Gregor, and we had a beer in the garden seeing as it is so beautifully light at the moment. Seriously, it's 11.20pm and still light out there, it's a beauty. 

I told him about my fundraising for Alzheimer's Society and he was, like so many people have been, genuinely keen to support me to not only raise funds but to raise awareness too. Gregor's dad passed away 18yrs ago from early-onset dementia. He was diagnosed in his early 60s - just another example of the various ways that people can be affected by different types of this disease. Gregor was keen to come along to my fundraising BBQ this summer and share his experiences and advice with others who have that personal connection. It's really important to him, and he's not the only one. 

I'm genuinely bowled over by how many people have responded with personal stories after I've told them I'm fundraising for this cause. My friend in Australia has just found out her Grandad has Alzheimers, my downstairs neighbour's father has recently received a diagnosis of the early stages of the disease, Gregor's dad, my friend from many years back at the Tap, a contact I know through my current job. So many people have a personal connection and it's been so encouraging and heart-warming to hear their stories too. It makes me feel like I'm not just running this Marathon out of my own interests, but in the interests of so so many people around me. It's spurring me on to no end. 

So, I think this is what's also keeping me moving and helping me to remain so positive, driven and excited about all the long miles ahead. The hardest line to cross in any Marathon isn't the finish line, it's the start line. This training is hard work, my legs are tired already and my priorities are all over the place. But I'm so engrossed in it, and it's going well so far. 

14 weeks now until race day, and still lots of miles to go. I've completed seven weeks of training so far and I've run 134.6miles (216.6km) in total, averaging 19.2miles (30.9km) per week at the moment. That's only set to rise now, but first I'm taking a few little weeks of holiday while my BEST FRIEND GETS MARRIED and we all swan off to Tuscany for a few days. I'm looking forward to getting back out on some fresher legs after a fortnight of short runs to see how the timings are looking at half marathon distance. At the moment I'm running long and slow on pretty fatigued legs all the time, so it'll be interesting to see how the long run goes when I'm a bit fresher. Fresher, and filled with wine and pasta. 

It's fine...it's "carb loading"...

To take a peep at my fundraising page, head to JustGiving.

All my FitSnaps re training runs can be found on my Instagram. 

Thanks so much for sticking with me - I'll be funnier next time, I promise. :)

Meanwhile, watch this because it's gorgeous and you all deserve it, you gorgeous lot...

Lots of love, 
Nikki. xxx