Almost 2 months in and still injury free.
The back is still giving me some trouble but I'll talk more about that another time. Its manageable. I really must get around to doing some core work and booking some physiotherapy as recommended by the specialist.
However, putting that completely to one side, I'm getting on with things as best I can and am slowly (with emphasis on the word slowly) getting back to fitness and I feel encouraged by my progress.
My mileage is back on an upward trend. Averaging just shy of 24 miles a week over the last 2 months. Not a huge amount but its a lot more than I managed between April and June.
As you'll see from the 5k, 10k and 10mile indicators above, I have cut my distances right back in order to come back slowly. No point in rushing back to run major distances until I've got a race booked and then training can start in ernest. That isnt likely to be until later this year. The legs are getting stronger though. The recovery is getting easier.
Now I'm beginning to run pain free again, its time to start mixing things up and scheduling in some dedicated sessions. I've already done one speed interval session which I will start to increase my reps and I'm about to start regular hill reps to build my strength and power.
Most importantly, I seem to have found my self-resolve with the intake of calories...
Not a single day over my calorie limit of 1,770 calories a day since 12th July, just over a month or so ago.
As a result, I'm now within 4lb of my race weight. Not far off at all, after feeling like I was miles away from that target only 6 weeks ago. As the weight comes off, the legs get quicker and the strength and power comes back. With some dedicated intervals thrown into the mix, I'll be maximising the progress curve.
...(cont 16/08/2015)... since writing the above, I've actually done my first set of hill reps. It wasn't fun and it hurt a lot but you know it will make all the difference...
Watling St near my parents house makes for the ideal hill. Not steep by any stretch of the imagination but its a lung buster. I've ran it many a time over the years and know the bits that hurt.
The first three reps were consistent but my legs had pretty much had it by the 4th rep. Then I managed to find a tiny little bit more for the last one. Working some hill reps into the schedule once a week will pay huge dividends.
I'm also starting to work on some speed reps...
Much nearer to home, I'm now running the local block, concentrating on some short bursts heading down Sutherland Avenue, Northbound. Only just less than 1/4 of a mile. As you'll see above, I ran the loop anti-clockwise, so the 1st rep is part of the warm up. The plan is to do this at least once a week and to increase the number of reps each time.
Since coming back, I seem to have lost what speed I had so its imperative I do something about it.
So all in all, things are most definitely looking up right now.
I will be heading to Spain for a week in 10 days time, so I'll need to take my running kit with me just to make sure I can keep things ticking over. I'm not prepared to let things start slipping again.
