Looking up at the ladder

21^st September

It’s been a while since the last blog report. I am still a work in progress, at least I hope it’s progress.  On August 19^th I did 3 runs in a week. 5 weeks later I am still on 3 runs a week. I am happy to keep it conservative enough allowing for rest days every 2^nd day. There are running reasons for this, which i will explain later and work reasons too, which I won’t be explaining. Coming back from holidays, the cardio system had gone to bits. It was obvious I was well and truly overtrained. Maffetone in page 143 of his “Big Book....” goes into more detail but the signs were easy to tell. Elevated heart rate, inability to perform the simplest cardio workouts (like walking up a hill without feeling tired), no interest in running, susceptibility to colds, stomach bugs and coughs and so on.  There were other personal stressors at play and maybe some dietary ones too. Blood tests didn’t show up anything majorly wrong with my system though the medic did say anaerobic activity should be kept at a minimum. He also suggested a walking routine most days would help with recovery.

Anyway back to the present. I walk probably 30 mins a day to and from the car to work plus the odd 3 mile walk with my wife in the evening. This has certainly settled my on going fatique while use of the foam roller has aided recovery with my groin pull and provided some relief to my quad issues. I’m up to 3 X 4 miles a week running at a average pace of 9 minute miles. HR has varied this week from 138 (9.27 pace) to a whopping 166 (8.27 pace) but the desire for running is coming back. I can hardly see myself racing anytime soon, at least not this side of 2013 but it’s a start. I’m not making any predictions, I have a general  idea of where I want to be by Christmas but won’t be revealing anything yet. The Connemara marathon is looming in April 2014 but that is firmly at the back of my mind now. I am starting at the bottom of the ladder and I won’t be in  a position to return to club training for a while yet not until the aerobic side of things rights itself out. This is a pity and I wish all Mallow runners the very best over what will be a busy few months for members.

Weekly mileage. Week beginning- August 19^th- 12 miles a week (inc 4 mile walk), August 26^th 11.5 miles a week, September 2^nd 3 miles (sickness), September 9th 11.8 miles, September 16^th 13miles