Progress Brought to a Halt
So training was going well, my outings were around 4-5km and moving toward 40mins.Then I got a cold! Not just a runny nose but a real chest shaker cough.
Back Too Soon
I sensibly laid off for a couple of days but then ventured out when I thought I was ok.
I seemed to be on form and picked up where I left off my plan with an outing of 40 mins turning in 6.6km with walk breaks reduced to 2 short ones. Progress spot on target even having lost 4 days training.
That was the upside, the downside was that I hadn't actually been ready and my chest was really bad for the next few days.
I had to take a break for another 5 days before venturing out again.
Short on Time
I accepted dropping back from my training plan as injury seemed inevitable if I went straight from several idle ill days back to where I was, never mind where I should be.I tried to do a deliberately slow 25min but I failed in my discipline and still exceeded a 60min pace over the middle 2km and I added another 3 mins as I finished further away from home than intended. Distance and time are both now well below where I wanted them to be and I only have 2 training weeks left before the take it easy week running up to the race.
I'll just have to accept being gentle in progress and hope I don't lose any more sessions. The intended increase in speed will have to be for another year.
Injury Awareness
It's at the point when you try to push duration or speed that most Achillies injuries seem to be suffered and indeed I still suffer with mine after a foolish attempt to run on my toes 3 years ago.
I have a friend who loves running but underwent coaching to increase her speed resulting in months off running and an injury that will never fully go away.
It is so tempting to get out there and blast it to get back on track but it just isn't worth the risk.
Revised Hopes
I had been hoping for a good sub-60min again but I will have to just see how I feel and be sensible on the day.
Sorry this is after the fact, but a good guideline is if you get a cough, take a break till it feels better, then continue the break at least 3 more days, and start with easy runs only. You won't lose any fitness for a couple of weeks and even then it won't be much - you gain fitness quite quickly via training but you don't lose it nearly as fast when resting. Patience is the hard bit, especially if you enjoy running (I've been there, done what you've done, overcompensated and injured my achilles by trying to run daily for a month to build up fitness faster).
ReplyDeleteYou still have almost 3 weeks, that is enough time to be ready for the distance which is the most important thing (pace should always be secondary, even if you've set a goal, you won't enjoy the run on the day if you're worrying about your pace rather than just enjoying the moment). 60 mins vs 65 mins? It's just a number, never forget that.
Good luck in Manchester, I'll be there too, hoping for good weather :)