I didn't realise it had been so long since I did a blog post here! Time appears to have gotten away from me. Oops! I've have been a little busy with work and I've been away to visit the family for 4 days just this past weekend but to be honest, I've been in a bit of a funk since Cambridge Half Marathon.. and whilst I had events/races to continue training for(which I'll go into a bit later), I just didn't feel motivated at all to workout and therefore I was finding it difficult to gather the inspiration to post here too since the majority of my posts is centered around my training!

However, the visit with my family has done me good! They've always been so encouraging about my weight loss and my running and training.. and lets face it, when you're in a better mood, you're way more motivated to workout!

I ran 2 six milers whilst I was at my parents and I swam yesterday evening(1.1 mile swim). So I'm fairly sure I'm getting back into the swing of things. Hopefully it will continue!

What's Coming Up?
As I mentioned, I do have a few events already scheduled and booked that I should have been training for. Here's what I have in my diary for definite:
- 5th May - Wings For Life
- 9th June - Great North Swim

I have a few races/events pencilled in too, I just need to figure out  if we're available.. or just haven't booked them yet.
- 3rd/4th June - Summer Wolf Run
- 2nd July - Great Newham Run
- 16th September - Swim Serpentine

So, I've got Wings for Life coming up in 5 weeks. I think the problem I've been having with getting motivated is the fact that the finish line is behind you on this event, so there's not really a distance I'm training for like there was for the Half Marathon. Instead, I've turned the tables and set a goal to be able to get to at least 8 miles before the car catches me, so thats an incentive for training!

Then there's the Great North Swim in June.. which I'm both excited and nervous about! I watched Phillip, his mum & aunty do the swim last year.. and kinda wished I was doing it too. Then I got a wetsuit and was doing open water swims last year, so I've got everything I need.
I can't wait for Open Water Swim to start.. but thats what also brings the nerves as the open water makes me nervous! Hopefully I'll get used to it eventually, I didn't do OWS for the full season last year, I started towards the end.

So, pencilled in, I have the Summer Wolf Run - which will be my first obstacle course race if I register a place for it. Phillip has been going on at me to do a OCR for a while since he did one the year before last and loved it. He's agreed to do it with me as some of the obstacles look tough! It will require some training for sure.. so more of an incentive to start strength training again! Oh Kettlebells.. where are youuuuu ;)

He was caked in mud! Yuk! ;)

Great Newham Run is pretty much certain.. but I just haven't registered for it yet. Phillip and I have done it every year for the last few years and it's quite a good race, so I'm pretty sure we will be doing it again.

Last but not least, I want to do Swim Serpentine this year after I saw loads of people do it last year. The medal was huge last year so thats a total bonus. It's just very close to our holiday in September, so I need to double check we can definitely do it.

So, I've plenty of reasons to keep up my training and I think my body needs a bit of a switch up in routine instead of just running all the time. I think my body has gotten used to my running training and my weight has plateaued. So it's time to switch it up. More swimming, cycling and strength training ahead!

The above will also help for when I eventually book onto a triathlon. I still plan on doing one this year and I've found a couple that look ideal(a sprint, I'm starting small and being sensible!). The London Tri has been recommended a lot but I'm not sure how it will work out for travelling down with a bike and everything! So I'm looking at ones closer for the time being so I don't have to worry about too much on the day.

But that's it for what events I've got planned. I'll be restarting my training diary posts and trying to get back into a more regular blogging schedule.

Question: What events/races do you have planned? Do you ever hit a blip with no motivation after a race?