Your excuse is invalid!

My trainings plan and motivational photo.

I love Chocolate!

Today is Ash Wednesday, the start of Lent, a time in the Christian calendar for fasting. As I was thinking about this on Monday and deciding whether to take part in this symbolic fast this year I got in a bit of a panic. Only 40 days til Easter and after Easter, May is only a couple of weeks away so I really, really, SERIOUSLY have to start training for the Aschaffenburg Citylauf on 11^th May.

I registered Matt and myself back in January for our city’s yearly fun run thinking it was a 5k run (goal N° 3), yeah yeah I know, I should have read it properly as it is actually a 7.9K run!!!!!!  Call me crazy but I didn’t cancel, however I did put off starting to train. Minus temperatures and 16 weeks stretching out in front of me gave me a couple of good excuses, but the time for excuses is no more. It’s do or die, sink or swim time.

As for a training plan, I’ve found a few online but have put together my own starting with a 5k and adding on some of a 10k plan to reach the 8k mark. Couch to 5k is a good one to start with, especially if, like us, you’re a couch potato. This week it’s brisk walking every day and next week I start on 1 min walk 1 min jog rotation. With just 11.5 weeks to Race Day I’m sure there’ll be a tantrum or two before the finish line is reached.  

So if you’re anywhere near Aschaffenburg on 11^th May come and watch, better yet join me! I’m trying to get a team together to run as an advertisement for our Church’s youth “Extreme Day” on 16^th June. Get in touch if you’re interested.

Anyhow, back to Lent. What am I going to give up? Well, chocolate, yes really! For those who know me well, you’ll know this will be a tough one. I don’t just like chocolate, I love chocolate, LOVE LOVE LOVE chocolate. In fact, given the choice between chocolate and oxygen, I’d have to think about it.

I have actually done this before, gone 40 days without chocolate, so it’s not totally unprecedented, but it’s still going to be a test of my willpower and that’s the point. Fasting for Lent isn’t a biblical mandate, it’s a Catholic and High Anglican tradition linked with the 40 days and nights that Jesus spent in the wilderness fasting. Also (unfortunately) quite a lot of mythical and manipulative traditions have got mixed in over the centuries. In the western world it’s too easy to lose sight of what is luxury and what is necessity so it’s time for me to face the ugly true, chocolate ISN’T essential for sustaining life.

PS: If you see me looking like this, I'd recommend giving me a wide berth. LOL