I can just about walk and talk again after the previous weekend's activities. I'm slightly late mentioning the wonderful result for Exeter Chiefs against Bath at Sandy Park. Commentators talk about the sixteenth man and he was certainly evident last Saturday with a sell out crowd giving tremendous vocal support. I'm not sure how much difference my cheers made but every little helps and it was worth loosing my voice for. This was the first time that Chiefs have beaten Bath in a Premiership game and they chose the right time to do it. The order at the top of the table has dramatically changed and Chiefs are tentatively hanging onto an incredible second place for the time being.
Having lost my voice on Saturday; I then lost the ability walk properly the following day thanks to the Bath half marathon. I did this race two years ago when I was still competing full time and in probably the best shape of my career - a slight contrast to now. I signed up at the end of the summer when the sun was still out and the evenings were light. I'm sure I'm not the first person to make that mistake. I decided I needed a goal to motivate me, to aim for and to give me a purpose to train. The only problem being nothing changed as I filed away the entry along with my structured training programme ready to dust off closer to the time. To start with I dreamt that I could improve on my personal best - surely training for just running is easier than five sports? As March loomed closer I set new more realistic targets and as a result ended up achieving them with time to spare. The big difference, however, became evident over the next few days when walking downstairs became impossible and even the flat was challenging.
