12% of a plan

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 pressure off.

This week sees a return to mainly easy running (apart from a decent session with Mr T this morning) and removing the structure from my week. I'll continue as is until I'm away and then continue when I return until I feel ready to push onward again (with said lessons learned!).

The biggest change I am making is to completely ditch technology. I do this from time to time, but now I am taking a more permanent view. Do I really need my Garmin telling me how slow I am going. I really am too dependent on it for feedback. I know I can't run sub 16 mins for 5k, because all of my sessions data constantly tell me this. What happened to the great expectations I had when I was a kid, just assuming I could run fast because it felt fast?

If I think I am running 5 miles at 6 min miles and feeling good, do I really need to know I am actually running 4.8 miles at 6.20 pace ??

I completely get how and why data is useful but I do think it's holding me back. Back in 2010 I actually ran some of my best races when I had either forgotten to take my Garmin (26.47 for 5 miles), not started it on time or it didn't pick up signal until well into the race (best ever Frostbite position). I was tracking miles back then but really had very little structure in my training. 

It also means I can back of Strava which itself can be a dangerous tool.

No short or mid term aims now, just back to feeling strong and enjoying running.

I may try and have a crack at a Parkrun at some stage but who knows. I'm not really feeling it yet.