Downer!

Struggling to pull things around!

I haven't written a new post in this blog for almost 3 weeks and have been actively avoiding doing so.  This summer is proving to be a particularly low period for me on the endurance running front.  Lower than I had imagined and low for a whole myriad of reasons, not least of which is the battle with getting my head into the game.

It has been a tough few weeks aside of running (long story, lots of details but not worth boring the reader over) but the ultimate outcome has been a set back on an emotional, physical and psychological level.  After my last post, I had just received a massage and was looking forward to a 14 mile training run with Zoe M.  It turned out to be a hot day and one that reminded me that I simply do not cope with running in the heat.  At the end of mile 9, my back and right calf started playing up so the next couple of miles became intermittent with running, jogging and walking.  Zoe was her usual great self, so full of praise and encouragement but I simply slogged my way through running for the last 10 minutes and finally completed a 12.25 mile session in 2 hours.  Two days later however, I managed 11 treadmill miles without too much difficulty but was conscious that my right calf felt tight.

Other than that, I've been exercising at every opportunity but several factors have been limiting my training, my progress and my confidence.  Firstly, having the children at home with me over the holidays has meant that I'm not able to 'steal an hour here or an hour there' after work and when I have been able to find the time, I've been pretty much limited to an hour on most occasions so the distances aren't really happening.  The heat (even on those days that aren't actually that hot) seems to affect me as soon as the temperature reaches 20.  The last couple of weeks in particular seemed to feel so muggy (and an awful lot hotter in the gym) that even when my muscles and breathing are up to par, my head isn't.  I suspect that most of my lack of progress is mental although I certainly haven't been shying off training. 

Having had a week in Devon with my niece and daughters, I ran most mornings (5-6 miles) although the Brixham terrain is slightly different to that of Suffolk.  Hills galore and woodland were both welcomed and beautiful but extremely tough.  That said, my training time was limited to 50 minutes maximum and whilst maintaining a reasonable level of fitness, the progress isn't being made.  I had originally intended on running a longer distance this last weekend but well, after running on both Saturday and Sunday morning at 7am and literally melting whilst doing so, yet another weekend has gone by without any more than a 5 miler as a training run.  So, having ran a marathon almost 6 weeks ago, my longest distances since, were over 2 weeks ago and nowhere near long enough to give me the confidence in myself in this next impending challenge!

I've always prided myself on my fight and ability to grit my teeth and work through even the toughest of situations but I'm genuinely struggling to keep my head held high and believe in myself where training this summer has been concerned.  Each and every time I head out for a run with the best of intentions, I seem to find the whole session a bit torturous - give me a step machine or a bike however and it seems to be a different story.  Still, I'm trying and am really hoping to get 8 miles completed tomorrow evening.  I have a couple of opportunities this week to train although nothing more than an hour until this weekend.  I'm hoping that some rain at the weekend will enable me to get some miles in - from that point onwards, I'll be in a better position to determine just how I'm going to cope with Wolverhampton.  I'm so worried that I won't get around or that I'm so under prepared that it will be 5 hours of torture - or worse, that it'll knock every bit of confidence out of me where the running is concerned ahead of future events.  On the flip-side, by not even attempting it or by reducing it to a half-marathon training run in preparation for other events, I know that I'll be 'failing' in the challenge that I've set myself by my own volition.  Given that I set myself this challenge for my own personal reasons, I'm just not fully prepared to give up on Wolverhampton. 

So, from this point onward, I'm just going to (try to) remain positive and give it my best, although my best may just not be good enough on the day.  TRYING to keep some of my grit and determination about me (just worried, under prepared and terrified of the heat, the hurt and stuffing up)!

Holidays, Heat and Training

Trying To Stay Motivated!

It has now been almost 3 weeks since my last marathon and only a month until my next challenge.  I have, as planned, allowed my body to get some well needed rest and am now in a position where I can kick start the training back in again.  If I'm honest, allowing myself to rest came so much easier than I had thought - not only was I physically incapable of running (I hurt beyond belief in the days following the last venture), I was also extremely tired and, to boot, had also managed to lose the will to even 'want' to run! 

I had anticipated that the end of term tiredness and emotional state would kick in at some point and when factoring a marathon into the equation, I was even more tired than I had planned for.  The inevitable need for rest and anything other than running had, by mid July became too much to ignore.  Perfect timing!

So, in the days following the marathon, I ran very little but instead swam, walked and used the stepping machine.  For someone who has been a hobby runner for years, I'm surprised as to how much I had stopped enjoying the running and have really appreciated the lack of intensive training runs.  On the downside, my muscles have clearly suffered as a result of the marathon training: the constant fatigue, tightness and ache in them has not been fun.  To the point that even the gentlest of runs has been painfully hard and any real exertion has produced a much lower performance than I thought could ever be the case.  If nothing else, I've learnt that repeated training at this level actually lowers performance.  I suspect that a lack of stretching, recovery exercises and rest before setting the training in again has ultimately not served me well.

Note to self - RECOVERY is as important as the training:

http://www.howtobefit.com/marathon-recovery.htm

I knew when I actually ran the endurance event in July that I wasn't really prepared for it.  The over training between Edinburgh and the track event had knocked me back.  So, now I'm in a position where I've had to rest and am now trying to pick up the pieces and train for another event that is only 4.5 weeks away - Wolverhampton.  Having spoke to a few people, read several forums and actually applied some common sense, I've now put together a training plan that will, I hope, give me a chance of coping with the next marathon.  In reality, however, I've lost some of the enthusiasm that I had at the start of the year and the warm weather isn't doing me any favours... with this in mind, I'll happily take getting round unscathed!

My training over the last week (1.5 weeks after the marathon):
w/c 23rd July (start of school holidays, woo hoo)
Monday - around Nowton Park.  Hot, slow and very difficult but actually easier than I thought may be the case
Tuesday - 5 treadmill miles
Wednesday - 5km (slow and painful) followed by 20 minutes of cardio on the step machine (my right calf and Achilles were really not good!)
Friday - 10km on the treadmill and surprisingly easy!  Go figure.
Saturday - 10 miles in total but over two sittings (6 miles and 4 miles) before heading out on the hen night for the lovely Jess. 
Sunday - I had hoped for a few slow miles but too many Pimms and Wine on Saturday put pay to that.  (FYI, too many Pimms by my standards probably serves as little more than an aperitif for most hen party participants; I am officially dreadful at drinking.)

So, now well over two weeks since the last marathon, my legs should be feeling OK but yet the fatigue has still been prominent.  5 miles on Tuesday felt slow, painful and almost unbearable at times.  Until today that is when Sheryl worked her sports therapy magic on my legs.  This afternoon I actually feel as if someone has given me a new pair as an early Christmas present.  So today, Wednesday, I wanted to enjoy this feeling of happy legs a little longer so merely worked for half an hour on the stepping machine.  Tonight I plan on drinking plenty of water and am hoping to complete a slow 14 miler tomorrow, Thursday (hopefully with a cycling companion in Zoe).  I think my legs are ready and mentally, I'm ready to give it a go but I'm also nervous.  Ridiculous really given that I know I can do this but I've been shying away from any distances and hard miles of late so this really does feel like yet another challenge to overcome!  Rest day on Friday, a short run on Saturday and hopefully 10+ miles on Sunday with a few of the Pacers.  Bring it on!

I hope that tomorrow works well for me so that I can actually look forward to Wolverhampton in the way that I had originally set out to do almost 32 weeks ago!