Daz Does Tri

Last run of the year in the books and a couple of beers deep. 2022 is a wrap. I'd love to be posting about what an amazing year it was but seriously - it was one big meh !! 24 races in total. Best result was 16.49 for Parkrun. Won a 5k outright in 17.00. Track races were all pony. Actually looking back it's been a really disappointing year. Even rankings it's hard to see anything that is worth boasting about. Runbritain ranking handicap is at 1.6.  The best thing was probably consistency. Least injuries of any year. Just the cold bug early December holding me back on the race front and 3 weeks in California at the end of July. Did burnout a little in June and didn't go well until November. In spite of all that had 7 x 5ks between 16.49 and 17.07. Only 4 that I ran properly were slower and 17.29 was my slowest of those. WAVA wise at age 47 I had 7 of my top 20 ever performances but that's a pretty weak way to look at it. In terms of points only 1 in the top 20. Train

So after I had to can Battersea at the start of the month I snuck an entry in for this as a backup. Decent course and decent field generally and a day out in LDN, sounded like a pretty good idea and kept things interesting when I was a bit down. Battersea was 3 1/2 weeks ago and timed with my restart after 2 weeks of illness. Since then I have done 3 weeks of 44, 43 & 44 miles (on for very similar this week). Obviously Xmas, Birthday & Cold / Snow have hampered the big miles but I have had some fairly solid sessions. It's really hard to predict what I will run - especially as there is a big wind and rain forecast tomorrow BUT I do actually feel OK. Big issue has been conditioning - aches and pains - and they have been feeling better as the days / weeks go on. The good days are really good but the bad days are very laboured. Just hoping tomorrow I wake up with good legs. Going forward the plan for January is going to be a big and boring month. Just get all the horrible stren

Really struggling not to consume anything and everything at the minute. Clearly not tracking calories and haven't dared weigh in for weeks BUT actually feel like I am in OK shape. Booze has been a staple this week and I feel extra sluggish during the day. TP shows that since I shed 10 CTL points while I was ill I've pretty much been and stayed fresh for the last 2 weeks. Obviously with the shit snow and ice I got some quality done but volume was down. This week (started with my birthday) I have felt best I have for a while. Decent session bagged on Thursday - it'll be the only real quality of the week but plan was 4 x 2km of 2 mins followed by 4 x 60/60. Target was 10k effort / power and actually nailled that pretty well. Ended up doing session as 4 x 7 mins as was easier to keep track and paces was almost perfect 2km. Paces were - Warm up - 6.38/mm 276w 143 bpm (152 max) 1.25m - 7 mins -  5.36/mm -   310w - 156 bpm (165) 1.25m - 7 mins -  5.39/mm -   308w - 160 bpm (167) 1

This cold and snow can really do one now !! Bloody hell this is horrible, hopefully another day or two fo sub zero temps but it's been a struggle to get much volume in this ! Really feeling like the illness is behind me now. Feel a little stronger and fitter but it's still not right. Main thing is mentally I'm on holiday so just trying to get stuff done and hope that the motivation returns. Hernia was confirmed so have to look at ways of doing strength work without causing bigger problems there.  This week bagged a couple of easier sessions. Plan to run every day to build miles up and get conditioning back and then hopefully next weekend all being well look to Parkrun just to get something in the bag as a yard stick for fitness. Sessions this week followed existing theme but plan is to do them very controlled. 5 x 5 mins @ 10k -> 5k (16.8 kmph x 3 - 17 - 17.6) nice and relaxed off 2 mins on Tuesday. Thursday was 5 mins thresh (16.9) 8 x 60 / 30 (18.1) 5 mins thresh (16.9

The race that was not !! Up at 6.30, slight hangover. Get ready, out the door with Dan at 7.30. Defrost car, back door gets stuck and won't shut. Shit. Drive off anyway hoping it'll thaw. It doesn't. Come back. Switch cars. Drive north. Hit terrible icy and slushy roads. -8 degrees local, gets warmer as we head up. Hit a blizzard outside Birmingham. Road conditions shocking, can't even tell were on a motorway. Make the call outside Telford - turn back. If it stays like this we'll end up stuck on motorway all night. Hit traffic from an accident. 3 hour drive home.  Absolute shocker, but in fairness not really feeling racing in this weather with a slight cough anyway. Decision was right. Ended up doing progressive 5s session on  the treadmill. Week done, first week back of any decent level for 3 weeks after 20.9 and 11.8 miles. 44.5 miles, 384 TSS, 2 sessions, 4 x 8 mile runs. Overall, happy enough to bank something. Weight is hovering around where it needs to be but

Very tired today, felt a bit ill again and still coughing. Todays 'long' run was a pitiful effort - 8 miles on the trails. HR slightly elevated for pace (even off road) and a few coughing fits from the cold air. Think I've pushed a little too hard this week. Aiming to get some fitness I do need to cut some corners but def feel the need for a rest day tomorrow. Hopefully with a solid nights sleep I'll come good. Sunday I am heading to Telford for the 10k. If anything it'll be a good course reccy but it'll be under control and a hard tempo effort. Don't get me wrong, if I'm going well and feel good I'll push on but I'm just hoping for a solid hit out at around 5.50 pace. That's definitely somewhere I can push on from. Not sure how good I'll feel in that weather but I'll lace them up and see what happens. Long way off the expected 5.30 pace from 3 weeks ago but hey, that was 3 weeks ago !! Lots going on at home and the mojo is lower than

Back to reality. Still not right, cough is still there and throat is annoyingly just not quite right. It's just taking longer to completely heal and it's frustrating. I'm definitely healthy it's just a slight tickle in the very bottom of my thraot. Frustratingly I seem to have coughed myself into an inguinal hernia. No issues with it, feels a little strange but I do have a Drs Appt next week to check it out. Tuesday I decided to crack out a steady to tempo run up and down the hill. Wore the Alphaflys and off a 7.03/mm first mile up the hill I slowly increased the pace. Finished up with a 6.23/mm avge and last 2 miles very low 6s back down the hill. HR good, never got to 10k effort. Cold in my lungs though and legs ached quite a bit afterwards. Nice to blow off some cobwebs. Coke club Wednesday with Rich. 8 miles @ 8.03/mm. HR slightly higher for pace than previous but to be expected I guess once restarting. Today I wanted to do a session. Coughing a little more than nor

Big improvement today, feel much healthier. Still some shit on my chest but the war definitely feels like it's moving towards the closing stages. Managed 10 yesterday - 2.4 with Jake and then 8 with Dan in the evening. Felt OK, was moving pretty well but just getting those aches and pains still from lack of conditioning. Feels like I haven't completely lost fitness but without a real test it's hard to know. Weight down to 10st 4.8lbs this morning which is a good sign. Only 3 lbs off where it needs to be. Progress from here is strange. There is no real plan, it's just playing by ear. Really feels like I need to just 'run' and see what shakes out but I'll probably need to do some kind of effort. Thinking today I may actually get some floating 200s in to tick the legs over and see how they respond. It's likely better to do some kind of effort as a pose to easy / steady constantly. Reckon it may be a day or two before I am 100% healthy as the cold weather ju

This morning I'm feeling better again, but still not 100%. In terms of healthy I'd say I'm now about 93%. Still got some shit on my chest / throat but it's minimal issues - just a bit of coughing to clear and slight tickle. The real issue with it is that cold air or dry air causes me to cough and it's bloody freezing out. Back to back running days for the first time in a long time which is a nice sign. I'll also need to re start S&C as I am already aching and sore and I only did 4 miles yesterday. Feels like a long way back from here but once I can start putting in some sessions I get the impression things will progress quickly. Plan for today is to try and get used to 'being a runner' again. Hate this restart stage, where it's shit and achy but touch wood it won't last too long. Might try and jog with J this morning and I'll run the 8 cc route with Dan later tonight so at least some miles banked. I'll do some light S&C today just

OK, so managed a run this morning. Just a lake loop but it's the first time I've actually felt human before and after. Shit on my chest still but the good news is that it's not a constant hacking cough. Wow, I've really been arse kicked here. Weight this morning at 10st 7lbs (up 4-5 lbs). CTL at 48 (from a high of 61).  BUT - it's a positive and a step towards getting back. Just hope now there is no relapse or things get worse. I actually feel like I could have a beer tonight which always to me feels like when I know I am coming out the other side. Today was obviously my A race target for the year - BMAF 5k champs at Battersea. Very frustrating to be on the sidelines but it is what it is. Body aches a bit after that. 3.8 miles at 7.37/mm. HR 135 bmp avge (there was a few stops in there) which is actually not so bad.  Key now is to start preparing to get back into shape and not rush things. Everything is still up in the air. Just need to play it by ear but the main i

I have to say I didn't think the last 10 days of my life would turn out like this. From pinging fitness and everything seemingly ok enough things have taken a turn. Health wise I had a shocker yesterday. Felt really rough, had slight chills in bed last night and throat very tight. Feel better as today has gone on but in all honesty no end in sight of this bug. Chest is rattling when I breath, throat still tight and slight dull aches in my body. I am at the stage now where I've just abandoned hope of getting fitness back at any stage, I just want to feel better. I've not had a beer for 2 weeks, I couldn't imagine having one at this stage, coffee ditto it's been warm tea, ibro, lemsip and throat lozenges. It feels like that stage of an injury where you just abandon hope and accept the long haul. I'm literally at the stage I can't remember feeling anything other than shit and I can't imagine a day I wake up feeling good. Dramatic, yes but I really have had

Yesterday's run was absolutely fine. HR good, pace slow, felt relaxed. Today though the cough is really starting to take hold. Just coughing up crap from my lungs. Throat is very slightly sore - really not much there but feels like it's constricted still. It's a big raking cough to clear my lungs that's the issue. Can't run with this so it's a zero today.  At the minute I'm just taking each day as it comes but the novelty has well and truely worn off. I feel shit, I'm loosing hard earned fitness and I can't see the end of the raindow from here.

Woke up feeling much clearer today. Still a little chesty, throat much better, head clearer it's 100% a run day but no idea how that will go yet. Weight 10st 6.8lbs so far from  ideal but the elastic hasn't broken yet. If I can run with no major problems and continue to improve then I reckon I'll be fine next week at some stage. Need to take my time returning to action here or at my age something will definitely fall off. Ran less than 5 miles in the past 7 days - ouch. I really, really need a following wind here. Main thing now is to try and keep gettiing healthier every day. The fitness should slowly return. If I look at Friday (last run) was a solid session. Rest Saturday after a tough session will help and then from Sunday I am missing runs then in reality I have missed 3 days so I should only be 6 days to return to that level. These things are never straight forward and I am not expecting plain sailing. Just keeping fingers crossed that it's a clear systems check t

Slept well last night but up early - for me (5am)  ! Resting HR down to 41 so finally seem to have broken out of this bug. Now it seems the issue is going to be clearing the shit off my chest which means - lots of coughing agghhh. It's actually not too bad at the minute but it's 'productive'. Throat is slightly sore, ibro and decongestant seems to work best with lockets. Lemsip / strepsils don't really bring much to the party. Will delay return to running until tomorrow as planned. Today I'll stretch out and do some activation type S&C just to see what's going on with the muscles. Looking back, I'm guessing that I'll be coughing and not feeling amazing for I guess a week or so. Fingers crossed that's the case as it'll give me time to pull something out of the bag. Worst I have been ill for years, certainly over a period of time as it's close to 7 days. I don't really get ill much and when I do it's usually over quickly. This o

Better night sleep but still really not at all well. Weigh in for first time since Friday - 10st 6 - so as to be expected the body will retain water and fat while I'm cattled. Resting HR 48 bpm - same as yesterday so 5 bpm over normal. Feels like maybe I am at the bottom now so fingers crossed things start to improve from here. It's actually been 5 full days since I felt rough and most likely 6 as Tuesdays session did feel unnaturally hard work. Almost ironic now looking back last week and being thankful of timing of illness that it was perfect. 95% sure that Battersea is a non starter now and Telford will just be a day trip.  12 weeks of focus for 2 races that now seems just totally written off. Even worse is that over the Christmas period there's no real back up alternatives to fall back on. Going to need some real DC positive moments to try and process this !!  Not sure I have felt this ill for a period of time for many years? It's not Covid (tested) and I've had

So Daz Man, was it worth it?? Short answer is no. Yesterday took a turn for the worst, started feeling really ill - brutal sore throat, chesty and aching. Flu. It hit me HARD. Ended up in bed at 7pm. Didn't really get much sleep and woke up today feeling better once I was up but far from 100%. Previously wrote a blog about resting up when you feel ill at any stage and not risking it. I should have heeded my own advice. This one is for the search in future and the answer is just take the hit early, do not try and run through. Last Tuesday I really started to feel it (session was way too hard), Wednesday was bad but ran. Thursday rested. Friday feeling better and ran. Saturday fucked. Sunday fucked. So right now, there is no way I'll run today. Not considering tomorrow yet but whatever happens next weekend as an A race target is out the window. Plan B - there's always more plans - I'll look at once I'm healthy but right now plan A is to get myself healthy again. Not e

Rest day yesterday, trying to break out of this illness. Today, decided to gamble on doing the session even though I am not 100% healthy. I feel about 80% during the day and if I wasn't racing next weekend I would take an extra day or two. Frustrating as I am in really good shape but I kind of need to start seeing improvement each day. Right now, I'm pretty much ticking along and not improving. Session was supposed to be 12 x 75/45 but I called a very low improvement on last week to compromise - 12 x 60/30 but taking the pace from 18.6 to 19.9. Felt really good during the session. Wore the MetaSpeeds and the power was pretty low. HR slightly up on last week but to be expected. Bit of a coughing fit after the session and post run feeling very lethargic. Still hoping that sleeping well tonight and resting well will give me 85% tomorrow. If I feel better at least I can get through next couple of days training and then rest Monday. All being well this does not head to my chest and

Woke up yesterday morning with the dreaded sore throat and feeling pretty rough. Managed to get out for 8 yesterday evening and actually felt pretty good with a really low HR BUT today woke up with that lingering feeling so just carded a zero for the day. Frustrating, but illness at this time of the year is going to happen. In terms of next weekend, it really could not have happened at a better time. Banked Tuesday session which was the last hard work out and it's pretty easy to move things around to accommodate an extra rest day.  Feel ok - ish today, not great but happy to bank the extra rest. Will rest up, eat well, drink well and sleep well tonight and hopefully be back on it tomorrow feeling better. Plan now is to do the speedwork session tomorrow, run a steady 8 Saturday and long easy on Sunday. If I can get those in the book I'll start to navigate next weeks taper as it happens !! Looking back over my blogs and fetch I've had loads of periods like this over the years

Tough, tough session today, a step up from the last sessions in target pace. Truth be told this session I'd only use when I have a race coming up. Decided on Stories Field as the venue just to get some realistic testing in. Still think Battersea Park is worth a few secs / mile.  This session is the last big session in the lead up to Battersea so hopefully it pays off with some improved fitness !! Warmed up, from the car park on the usual Parkrun warm up loop. 2k at 7.09/mm and feeling really good. HR was 137 bpm for that which is really strong and a positive sign that conditioning is getting much better. Few drills, felt a big bleugh about the 24 odd minutes coming up. First rep. 2km at 10k pace. Started and got the power locked in early. Felt good but last 400m or so was a little draggy. Decent wind for the 2nd half which was a shitter. 2k in 6.53 (5:31/mm) 159 bpm avge 165 max 313w. 90 sec recovery. Second rep. 1 mile @ 5k pace. Started strong, had wind behind first 200m then got

Another solid week in the bag and an improvement on last week. One more big week to go and then taper time for the next block of racing. Feeling pretty excited about racing now, I know I am in good shape and I'm really starting to feel that fitness come back on every run. Mon - S&C Tue - am) treadmill session - 8.00 @ hm 7.30 @ 10k 7.00 @ 5k 7.30 @ 10k pm) 3 shakeout Wed - am) easy 3.8 miles pm) 8 miles easy  Thu - treadmill session - 12 x 60 on 30 off from 18.5 - 19.7 plus S&C Fri - 14.1 long trail run Sat - 10k recovery Sun - 8 miles progressive ladders 6.39/mm avge 8 hrs training time, 56.2 miles, 502 TSS Decent week with some good quality and feeling much, much stronger throughout than last week. Need to do volume reps outside next week but did hit my power targets fine this week. Speed work went really well, first really fast session for a long time and worked through it with no issues. Legs need to adapt to moving faster and I have 2 more goes at that. Decent long run

Training stats from last week - 50.7 miles, 2 s&c sessions, 2 sessions (1 fail), 1 race, 441 TSS & 1 lesson learned So the obvious - 16.59 for Parkrun. Little rusty, better than expected, power low, hr fairly low. Absolute minimum standard to build where I need to from. Have to admit that I was very nervous on what to expect after the week I'd had but discovering the lack of carbs in my diet really made a big differnce. Fingers crossed addressing this now going forwards into the next critical 2 weeks will really pay off. Weight was 10 st 3 lbs this morning so we are now getting to the stage where it's consistent at this level. I reckon as long as I can start lifting pace in training it'll be fine. Plan for this week is to repeat the volume session on Tuesday (although it may need to be on treadmill) and hopefully see some stronger work on the km efforts. Last weeks benchmarking showed 323w to be 5k power. Few watts in the bank and HR could certainly go 2-3 bpm highe

So the test yesterday was to see if eating adequate carbs increased performance short term (24 hours !!). Oh yes, it most definately did lol So Stories Field, have to admit feeling pretty nervous beforehand. Had no idea what would happen as training this week around 5.30 pace has felt almost unsustainably hard work. Warmed up and immediately feel better than I have all week. Start is, as usual, mental at Stories. Settle in early, get past that heavy breathing stage where your lungs feel like they will explode and settle into a group. Check HR at about 1200m and it's at 167 which is really good for that stage. Have not got auto lap on (oops) so manually hit where I'm confident first mile is and it's 5.19. HR at 169 bpm so happy days. Push on to front of group and break with Ryan W. Settle into a solid effort and HR is at 170 which is slightly low. At half way still feel good and HR has settled 170 - 171 which is still better than expected. Hit 2 miles turn point and lap - 5.

So, weight is bang on where it needs to be. 10 st 2 lbs and stable. I'd always assumed less weight to contribute to speed but in the last couple of weeks that just hasn't happened. In reality I think that some things are just more complicated. So analysing my nutrients it does seem that I am consistently way below carb target. Protein and fat I tend to be close enough to goal but carbs are way below (as is fibre). So the plan from now is to be more focussed on nutrients and make sure I get the right amount. In fact looking at my food diary I haven't been close since I started dieting, in fact the only days I have been over 267g (my no run daily target) are - Oct 16,  Oct 22 (was close previous day),  Nov 4,  Nov 6 Nov 4 was day before Mansfield where I actually ran OK (ish) and Nov 6 was day after where I ate out twice. Oct 16th was a tired day BUT next day I actually ran well. Oct 22nd was a really good run day and 23rd was also strong - this was 2 close days of daily targ

10 day streak and I am done! The plan was to keep building fatigue and build fitness for another week or so but I am battered today. Session earlier did not go to plan! To be fair, the session on Tuesday was also pretty tired but I'm hoping good recovery now and the legs will start to take on the extra fitness I have built up over the last few weeks. This week I have decided to do sessions outside - as I wanted to benhmark HR / Power and new weight against pace. Tuesday - session was 3 x 2km, 2 x 1km at HM, 10k, 5k & 3k off 2 min jogs. It was windy on the busway and did not feel like a nice day at all! Reps were 6.05/mm, 5.51/mm, 5.31/mm, 5.47/mm, 5.40/mm. Decided last 2 to do at 10km as was pretty fucked! Today plan was 5 mins at 10k effort followed by 8 x 400m off 2 mins. That did not work out at all. Warmed up really comfortably and into 3.30 and then 2 mins (needed a toilet stop lol) at 5.56 and 5.31 pace (effort seemed the same). Managed 4 x 400m before I pulled the plug a

Bleugh, I am shite at XC. No getting around it. That was a king size struggle, even at lower weight I just done skip across the mud. This is the 3rd time I have done this race and each year I have got progressively lower down the field (99, 109 and 130th Saturday). In fairness the first leg is skewed towards the faster runners and it's a bit elbows and fists on the first lap in the woods. Good fun though and always nice to bank a race effort. HR was pretty much 5k PB high so if I can rev like that on a fast course I will hope it will be quick. This week the plan is to start building (53 miles and 500 TSS last week) and first up on Tuesday is a benchmarking session. I'll run 2k - 2k - 2k - 2 x 1k at power bands of HM (300w) 10k (315w) 5k (330w) and 3k (350w). Power should be slightly slower than those paces but I am not sure what's happening with weight loss so worst case it's a very solid 5m volume session and I should expect to be running 6mm - 5.45mm - 5.30mm - 5.15mm

OK, so it's been a while. Amazingly (for me) weight loss has been a huge success. Down to 10st 1.6lbs yesterday - sub 64kg and lowest weight in many, many years. I'm actually bang on target weight now so don't really need to continue pressing this. It sounds crazy me saying this but it has been so much easier than I expected - in fact I have only really cut out junk (and not all of it) and laid off booze a bit (I've been on the piss 3/4 times) and still eaten out 5-6 times and been on holiday.  Run wise, struggling for real consistent improvement. Just need to keep grinding BUT I do think I need to apply some real world testing to sessions to get a grip on what the correct power / pace / hr will be. Mansfield tomorrow morning for the National XC relays. First race in a few weeks and will be good to run harder than I have for a while. It's a great event but you can take very little from it in terms of form. I've beaten guys that are miles better than me and been

OK, back on this ting. I've always considered myself a bit porky for the times I run. Last year I did some analysis of running closer to target time off similar power but with less weight and run some fag packet calculations on what I'd need to be. Basically for me, I need to be looking at 10 stone flat (don't worry, I have enough spare to loose) to really start to see a BIG difference in performance. I'm currently 10st 8lbs. I have been as low as 10st 5 last year at my fittest so that's within reach. I was 10st 11lbs a few days ago so I am making progress. I am looking to race in earnest in December so it gives me a long enough run up at making that change. Traditionally, any time I have dieted I have fallen off the wagon in a few days and just binged on booze, crisps & chocolate and given it all back. This time I'm doing pretty well (so far). I'm food tracking using myfitnesspal and keeping below 2157 calories per day. If I am running I have around 700

The definition of madness is doing the same thing again and again and expecting different results! The dust has settled on the first half of the season. It finished earlier than I had hoped and if I am honest, I really shot my bolt before the proper races started. I missed all of the great opportunities BUT and I do have a big one (!) there's part 2 to follow. So I have moaned already about what went wrong. The biggest plus out of everything is that I am going into a break with no injuries which is a huge plus for me. No enforced break, it's a chosen one and those have been few and far between in the past 13 years (it's been that long - crikey) I 100% know the formula that gets me into sub 17 shape (ish) and I peppered that for about 10 weeks. The bigger picture though is something completely different and that means I really have to change things up. I am effectively completely starting from scratch and re building myself. It's actually easy for me to forget how well I

OK, so time to admit defeat. This season has been a very drawn out plateau. 17 min bingo if you will !! I quickly got reasonably fit and basically just did not move. My motivation pushed me to train harder, lifting intensity and all I effectively did was offset my increased fitness by increasing fatigue and just not getting quicker. The eventual outcome was obviously and always going to be a burnout both mentally and physically.  Times started dropping as my body just couldn't respond and recover from the intensity. Still fit, still in good shape, just cannot move forwards. Season over. It's not all doom and gloom, this is a learning curve even at 47 years young and I know exactly where I have made mistakes. I've kind of proven I can crack well under 17 mins off a short base period and a block of 30 miles per week. I enjoy it, but to push on I need to look at what I am doing and not sit in that grey zone. After last weekend it was clear I just needed to rest and take the pr

Legs are absolutely savaged after track at the weekend. Not had calfs like this for many years. Monday - rest. Really bad shape. Cold bath, Normatecs doing everything I can to shake them out. Tuesday - no session. No chance. Risked a run and it worked. Steady was fine - ish. Calfs were fine but legs incredibly tired and unresponsive. Taking lots of protein to get some life into them. Actually confident that if they recover I'll be in good shape to push on. The danger here is I just get sucked into recovery and no progress for too long. This is the real issue with getting old - the commitment is there but what use is that without an able body. Ran steady, 7.1 miles at 6.43/mm mainly progressive to 6 but faded on the hills coming home. Better than I deserved but I really need these legs to come back to me by Thursday.  Not got serious strains, just really sore on the verge of becoming an issue. Fingers crossed I can get back to regular training otherwise moving beyond 17 mins flat is

Right, so I have some good data now on where I am at. The bad ... I'm getting over flu still, I'm not at 100% yet (probs 95%)  I'm lacking speed endurance, mile speed basically. I'm fading last 200m of an 800m from being on pace and last 1100m of a 1500m. I need to have that 72 second pace nailed to the board and be relaxed. Just tying up waay too much in the closing stages Lack of confidence. The good ... I'm literally one good sleep away from feeling pinging plus I have a rest day Monday. I have a great base and 5.3x pace feels comfortable enough over 5k I seem to have pretty solid flat speed. 65 opening lap of an 800m is fine and I wasn't under too much pressure. Felt like a 59 high, 60 low would be possible for a flat 400m. Reading this I can see exactly whats needed. Firstly - strengths - keep building on what I am doing. Slightly longer, slightly faster, slightly more. That's pretty obvious. No major changes to my stronger and longer workouts. Secondly

So friends over last night. The tail end of binge season and I got of fairly lightly i.e I wasn't absolutely smashed. Fun evening though, can't beat a good session on thee gin !!  Rest day today (Monday) and I feel much healthier than last couple of days. Not 100% by any means but much closer than I was !!  I'd say 97% now, Friday feels like a false start as I felt amazing but pretty shocking by Saturday. Plan this week is to kick my body back into feeling strong. I feel very well rested and if I can get on top of the aforementioned issues I will be in pretty good shape. I know I am not going to be in oapb shape just yet but the plan is to get back to basics this week, hopefully race well next Wednesday and push on from there. So this is the kick towards my summer holiday break now and I have around 7 weeks to get everything I need to tick off. Again, first up is to feel strong again. This is the rough plan for the week as it stands .... Mon - rest - like a champion. Tue -