I have been sticking to my training regime of running short, fast efforts and not putting in any longer runs. This isn't working. I am not enjoying it and I am putting on weight. There are two reasons why I am putting on weight; I am not running long enough to burn off lots of calories and, because I am in the house more, I am eating more. I'm not enjoying it because I'm not spending a lot of time in the countryside which I love. I love the sights, sounds and solitude.
You can see what it looks like here; you'll have to imagine the sound.
Fortunately I spent some time as a management consultant, so I know all about SMARTER goals. There is a good article on SMART goal setting on this website. Essentially SMART goals are Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant and Time bound. The ER, to make them smarter, stands for Empowering and Revisable.
So that is what I am going to do - revise things. No, I'm not going to learn things off by heart; I am going to change my plan. I'm going to keep the short fast sessions, but intersperse them with some nice long runs, which will hopefully be wild, windy and wet. These will be my treat for working hard on the fast days. I feel empowered already.
I think the important lessons I've learnt are; your training plan must suit you and you must take account of your weaknesses. We all have different characters, likes and dislikes etc. and must take this into account. We also have different weaknesses and need to have strategies to overcome them. I remember hearing a story about Winnie the Pooh and some biscuits. To stop him from eating them Pooh put the biscuits in a tin, then wrapped the tin up in a parcel and then put the parcel on top of the highest cupboard. He hoped that when he was tempted to eat them the rigmarole involved in getting them would deter him. If I remember correctly it didn't work, but I am confident that my long runs will and that when it is time for the big race I will not be stuck in a hole like poor old Pooh.
Management consultants are always altering things, coming up with new ideas, finding efficiencies, downsizing departments and generally messing things up. Because I have a great love of South Africa I came up with a new goal setting process - SA. The S stands for Specific and the A for Achievable. If something is specific then it is measurable and time bound and only an idiot would set themselves a goal that wasn't relevant. Now all I have to do is think of a use for the spare M, R & T, but I'll have plenty of time to do that on my long runs.