A part of me was afraid that injuries would put the fear of running into me but more than anything the experience has renewed my endeavours to get it right and do as much as I can to stay fit and run consistently. Speaking of consistency, I've come to the conclusion that much of my success was down to exactly that. There's many ways to look at data sets so when I look back through my training logs I see different patterns or lack thereof depending on the question I'm asking. With my running all over the place, one thing that stood out for me was the consistency from February 2012 to February 2013. I was sick a lot during marathon training but other than that there were rarely long periods of inactivity and even then I never took more than five days off. I could point to the mileage increase, the complexity of the sessions I was able to do, especially after the marathon but none of that would have been possible without consistently getting in the run even through the misery of winter and the anguish of the summer.
Late November 2013
But here I am and while keeping my excitement in check, can safely say that I have been thorough the most consistent extended spell of my running journey thus far. Back in November 2013 still with a sore calf but one that thankfully did not reduce me to a limp, my coach started putting me through my paces gently. We agreed to write off anything I had done that led to my minor injury. The key in those early stages was to be honest with myself, keep up maintenance work, icing, strength work etc. It was tough but after two weeks I could feel the pain going away as the muscles got stronger. Those early days, two weeks, involved a series of easy runs, two 12 km run and three 7.5-8 km run.
December 2013
Heading into December, Coach added another day of 7.5-8 km running and the 12 km runs became 13 km running. This was to be held for 3 weeks to allow my body to adapt to adapt to the weekly volume which would go from 46-48 km to 56-58 km. I also started using a heart rate monitor for the first time as I had a tendency to head out fast, aiming for the top end of my effort level for the day. So for most run my heart rate was capped at 150. One run was done at 160 and another at no more than 170, these being short runs, 7.5 km.
The faster runs were interesting. For the first two weeks the paces were consistent and suddenly on the third week, I was running at least 5s/km quicker without having to reach the target HRs. This was something that motivated me that we were on the right track
December/January
For the last full week of December and up to the first weekend of January, things went up another notch. Intermittent running was introduced in the form of 1500m repeats at around 160 bpm with 90s recovery. A 10km progressive tempo was added, 5 km easy, 3 km up-tempo, 2km fast. Two easy runs of 9 and 8 km were done and one long run increased to 13 km. Total mileage now was up to 66-68 km
I had my first niggle during this phase. On the first Sunday run, I did the long run at the Festival of Running 1 hour race in Pretoria at Phobians. It was to be an uptempoish run but a combination of the inclement weather and running in circles on muddy grass made it difficult. In the week that followed I experience soreness in my foot on push off and discovered that it was my big toe flexor that was affected. The decision was made to keep running as it didn't affect my form and to do strengthening work and ice three times a day.
The runs themselves went well. Continuing to use the HR monitor I noticed, over and above the subjective feel, that my pace at any given hear rate was getting faster. It was a good sign.
January
January proper started with a much needed recovery, dropping a run and volume down to 7 km runs as well as killing the intensity as well.
Then two big weeks that really worked me. After 8 weeks, Coach really stepped things up, not one run shorter than 10 km. The foundation was still a midweek long run and a weekend long run, 14-15 km. The faster runs were a longer progression run, 13 km with 7 km steady, 3 km hard and 3 km fast, and 1500m repeats now with 30s recovery. The rest of the week was made up of an easy 10 km run and as 12 km at what I call neither here nor there pace, mostly because you won't find it in Jack Daniels running formula!
The total mileage for those two week was to be 76-78 km. I hadn't run anywhere near that much since October 2012 and had never managed back to back weeks of 70+ km. It was tough but I coped. This time round, the HR monitor was ditched and I was instructed to go by feel. The first week was a roaring success, every run nailed, but the follow-up was challenging. Coach replaced the 12 km on Monday with a 5 km hard but controlled run, managing 19:45. The rest of the week proceeded as normal but by the weekend I was feeling it, the 1500m reps really took a lot of effort. During the tempo though I was hitting some good speeds, getting the Garmin down to 3:40-3:50/km!
So that was a good 10 weeks of training covered and I think i'll leave the rest for the February report, should I make it that far! Those 10 weeks were not without challenges of course, but the important thing was that the consistency was back, which meant that in Week 9 and 10 I was able to run 78 km and 76 km respectively. I had 57 workout days planned for that period and I ran 57 times!
|
Week
|
Mon
|
Tue
|
Wed
|
Thur
|
Fri
|
Sat
|
Sun
|
Total
|
|
1 18/11
|
7.5 km (E)
|
12 km (L)
|
7.5 km (E)
|
Rest
|
7.5 km (E)
|
12 km (L)
|
Rest
|
46.5
|
|
2 25/11
|
8 km (E)
|
12 km (M)
|
7.5 km (M)
|
12 km (M)
|
8 km (E)
|
Rest
|
Rest
|
47.5
|
|
3 2/12
|
7.5 km (E)
|
13 km (E)
|
7.5 km (M)
|
7.5 km (Re)
|
Rest
|
7.5
km (90%)
|
13 km
(Re)
|
56
|
|
4 9/12
|
8 km (E)
|
13 km (E)
|
8 km (M)
|
8 km (E)
|
Rest
|
8 km
(90%)
|
13 km
(Re)
|
58
|
|
5 16/12
|
8 km (E)
|
13 km (E)
|
8 km (M)
|
8 km (E)
|
Rest
|
8 km
(90%)
|
10 km
(Re)
|
55
|
|
6 23/12
|
9 km (E)
|
14 km (E)
|
10 km (Progression)
|
8 km (Re)
|
Rest
|
13 km (4x1500 m w/ 90s recovery)
|
14.5 km (M)
|
68.5
|
|
7 30/12
|
9 km (E)
|
14 km (E)
|
10 km (Progression)
|
8 km (Re)
|
Rest
|
13 km (4x1500 m w/ 90s recovery)
|
13 km (M)
|
67
|
|
8 6/1
|
7 km (E)
|
Rest
|
7 km (E)
|
7 km (E)
|
Rest
|
7 km (E)
|
8 km (E)
|
36
|
|
9 13/1
|
12 km (M)
|
14 km (E)
|
13 km (Progression)
|
10 km (E)
|
Rest
|
14 km (5x1500m MP w/ 30s recovery)
|
15 km (E)
|
78
|
|
10 20/1
|
10 km with 5 km fast
|
14 km (E)
|
13 km (Progression)
|
10 km (E)
|
Rest
|
14 km (5x1500m MP w/ 30s recovery)
|
15 km (E)
|
76
|
Hopefully I'll have more exciting news in February. I have my first race of the year planned on 23 February at the Gift of the Givers Township Races. I did do a race on 25 January, the PWC George Classen 10 km but I incorporated the 5x1500m into the run and was disciplined enough to start slow, get into the workout, stick to my paces and back off at the end, as my finish time of 40:53 indicates. I was just happy to be at a race again.
I have no idea what will happen at Township. Coach has made it clear that I haven't done the work that will allow me to race fast yet, the fine tuning is still to come. Township will be a practice run and his aim is to get me there 90% fit and we will build to a crescendo later in the season. At the moment I'm just excited to be fit again, running more often than not and getting in good mileage. If you had asked me early November where I would be in February this would be furthest from my wildest aspirations.
For now, I'm just going to keep enjoying the ride.
No comments:
Post a Comment