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Strange week coming up. Race on the first day, lots going on at home, trying to recover and then a short and a long race next week to prepare for!

As I droned on about yesterday - the race went really well. Yesterday I didn't manage to run as my plantar was playing up and incredibly sore. Lots and LOTS of rehab and today it was OK to attempt a session.

Usual 5k tempo session. Met Ian at the bench and set off. HR was lunar but slightly better than last week. 6.08/mm for the uphill section. 303w and 162 bpm avge but was into a decent headwind. I tried to keep a lid on the effort but HR peaked at 169 bpm which is still to high.

Longer recover as I needed a piss and then back down the hill.

Struggled this week as it was a lot more effort after Monday but managed to stay on top of the pace. Ian was much stronger today and dragged me round to a raggy 17.41 5k (5:42/mm) off 312w and I binned the HRM after the first mile when it hit 170 bpm.

Decent warm down for a 9 mile day so long run banked too lol

Definitely need 2 days between efforts BUT I want to get a treadmill session in on Friday so needs must this week. It'll be tough but so I really need to stay on top of recovery tomorrow and Saturday.

Interesting for the data geeks is that last week the next% were slightly slower for more power. Further investigation needed but at a minimum all things considered I would say negligible difference in the two trainers for speed & power. I will do a proper test once the Adios turn up.

So on to next week. Thursday is an 800m and Sunday is a 5k. If I am honest I would say my heart is more in the 5k where I think I have a chance of an OAPB (16.37).  I will do a speed session next week, probably Tuesday but It'll be an 800m pace session.  I may do something steady on Monday and back that up with a tougher session Sunday which means I can rest Wednesday. After the 800m I will just pretty much jog pre-5k. I should be in good shape for both races then however it'll take me a week or so to get some legs back after the downtime.

Treadmill session on very tired legs on Friday morning. Have to say, this session is starting to feel very comfortable, the idea is to RELAX at pace and it's paying off.  Indicators point to a 16.40 ish 5k next weekend so if I can stay healthy and get some good fresh legs things should be nice! I will run really easy this weekend and then try and get some race pace work in Mon / Tues.

Pushing on

So I'm pretty much at the same sort of fitness I have been over the past 10 years when I have been 'in shape'. It's rareified air for me.  My purple patches in old age have been...

2010 (3rd in Silverstone Half and a 26.47 for 5 miles). Off the back of 6 months of 70 mile weeks. Got injured and ran some half decent late season races coming back including a 2.50 marathon pb but never really recaptured form.

2012 - early in the year off marathon training got pretty fit - 27.10 & 27.48 for 5 miles. Tailled off after pulling calf before London Marathon and never got much back in terms of quality - just some ok-ish races.  Started doing triathlon.

2019 - off a few aborted attempts to return I threw the kitchen sink at it, sold all my cycling gear and put 2 months run focus training in. Back in high 16 shape for 5k for 5-6 months before getting injured. Longest spell of form by a long way.

These are the 3 periods where I have been in really good shape.  I have had the odd spell of running OK, but these were the ones where I felt bullet proof.

The first one I pushed too hard, at the Oakley 20 (training race) I pushed through a quad strain and needed 6 weeks out. High mileage = high risk for me.

The second one in 2012 I was unlucky. I pulled my calf in a frostbite (27.10 for 5 miles) literally 20-30 secs from the finish and never got back on top of form. I ended up buying a bike to x-train and that spelt the end of my decent running in terms of being competitive locally.

2019 I wanted to maintain fitness, I had no interest in pushing forward as I was just happy to be able to run 16.xx min 5ks. I stayed sensible and got unlucky with both plantar and adductor strains. 6-8 weeks out and built again slowly.

So basically I pushed too hard, did something else, got unlucky. 

This time I am very much looking forward to pushing on. I know I need to take risks with my body but not be too silly. It's a learning curve at this stage of life.  As a youngster we pushed ourselves 100% day in day out but I'm not stupid enough to think a 45 year old me can maintain that.

My calf, achillies, plantar chain on both legs is a bit sketchy. I'm putting in rehab work daily around races, I know I have a long way to go in winter to strengthen these. That's probably where the biggest win lies. It's funny but for me, I know that consistency is going to take me to the next level. If I can run, I will get in shape.  Staying fit enough to consistently get the sessions done is a big big things for me.  I look at people who string years of training together without injury and wonder how they do it!