It probably won’t surprise many to learn that most Sunday nights my wife, Alison, and I spend a few minutes to map out my training for the week.

It’s tablet time for the kids, we’ll pause the latest Kofuzi video on YouTube and talk through how we want my training week to look.

I like to work on a week-to-week basis and having that sense of structure helps me plan in the pockets of time I’m going to need to complete each individual run.

Most weeks run pretty smoothly; I’ve had to take the intensity out of the odd run recently due to a bit of a knee niggle and I’ve missed a bike session here or there. 

What it can’t factor in is the curve ball that’s gets thrown in every now and again. It could be illness or it could be some tightness somewhere. Let’s face it, life gets in the way sometimes.

This week’s bump in the road has been my son, Logan, being laid low by a virus.

It has really knocked him sideways to the extent that he hasn’t even been eating his chocolate spread sandwiches in the morning…

When your child has to be kept off school it tends to drive a cart and horses through any kind of plans you’ve made, running or otherwise.

To be honest, getting my training in has only been the second biggest battle I’ve encountered… trying to give Logan his medication has led to the kind of ongoing battle Harry Potter and Draco Malfoy endured… I’ll let you decide who’s Gryffindor and who’s Slytherin.

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I’m sure Logan’s stubborn streak can be put to good use when he’s older but, at the moment, it’s annoying to say the least.

There’s still a Kinder Egg in the cupboard that I said he could have if he has his medicine. It’s a hill I’m willing to die on.

On a serious note, this is the kind of situation where I’ve learned to be kind to myself. Running is important to me but it’s a distant second when it comes to making sure friends and family are okay. 

The worry around when someone is ill will always affect your energy levels, directly through sleep or indirectly through the mental energy of worrying about them (and how you’re going to get that damn medicine in).

Instead of focusing on what I’d ‘like’ to get done during a day, I’ve had to switch to what I ‘have’ to get done each day.

It has meant an interrupted week, training wise, but I’ve still managed to get runs in; the treadmill has come in handy and I’ve had a couple of plods around my local area where I’ve just focused on time on my feet rather than any kind of pace work. I haven’t got the physical or mental energy this week to do anything more than that… and that’s okay.

I’ve managed to keep the ball rolling. Next week should look very different and headspace hopefully won’t be taken up thinking of food that I can mask the taste of medicine in.

It can be thinking about reps and split times - a more ‘normal’ week.

The path through a marathon block never runs smoothly but it’s why getting to the start line is half the battle. 

I’m not an athlete; like so many of us, training has to be balanced with family, work and actually factoring in some time to relax that doesn’t involve putting on my running trainers… crazy, I know.

So here’s hoping next week can be a bit more of a routine training week because I’m just not up to another week-long round of intense negotiations with a five-year-old.

Give me a marathon over that.