Back in the Game
I'm no fitter or thinner BUT there has been a lot going on. I think I have been ill twice and I have let my hair down on the diet a bit.
I have a stag doo in 2 weeks that's going to be messy (no way around that) but after that there is no interruption to training!
Until then the plan is just try and keep getting 2 x sessions and 1 x long run in per week and just add as much as I can around that.
Currently 10 st 7 lbs (absolute top end of respectability), I have just had a coeliac attack and I seem to have a sore throat from weekend away watching Ryder Cup. Have building work going on for new porch which is making timings for running difficult.
Week 1
Monday - 1.5 easy miles around hotel in Rome, 6am. Very tired but 15 mins is better than zero mins. Travel home, no evening run.
Tuesday - Road session with Group at Eddington. Feel awful but risk it for a chocolate biscuit. 2.5 miles warm up with John. 6 x 6 mins @ 10k effort off 2 mins. Clear from rep 1 this is much harder than 10k effort. First 2 reps solid. 3rd bit ropey and stomach feels terrible. 4th rep garbage then break to take a shit. Join Andy for last 2 mins of his 5th rep then do rep 6 on my own pretty solid. Probs avge 5.3x for the intervals which is nice but forgot my Garmin. 2 mile cool down and feel sleepy.
Absolute shit show sleep and stomach is awful from the glutening and sore throat feels scratchy af. Early start for Sawyers 16th birthday and busy day with stuff going on at home. Things can only get better !!!
Wednesday - bleugh not feeling good AT ALL. Card a zero for today.
Thursday - wow, feeling much better. Not 100% but throat is no longer covered in razor blades and stomach finally feels good.
Shoe thought
Have decided to try at least and go non-plated on road training this winter. Used Peggys for intervals on Tuesday. Obvs slowed me by 5-10 secs mile and calfs were both sore at the end but actually felt alright in them. Next couple of easy runs I'll try Vomeros. Interested to see how that pays off when I switch to faster shoes. For track I'll stick to Takumi Sen as I like the feel, grip and control in them.
Back to Thursday...
Diet still not 100% and I'm now focusing purely on getting gut health back so boring, basic, 100% GF food for now just to get that back in line. I'll start to look into diet and weight properly when I get back from Paul's stag doo. Need to get back to the gym probably tomorrow. Feeling much much better today but not healthy by any means. However feels like I am still in the game even if I am hanging on.
Got a run in, easy 4 miles north of 8s just to see how the body is. Legs like cement but actually not so bad. Vomeros felt pretty good so happy with those.
Fingers crossed start to come out of the other side of this illness now.
Friday - am) Gym pm) 8 easy. Standard day at last. Actually felt OK getting this done. Still not 100% but feels good to be on the right track with conditioning.
Run was about 7.30 pace but Garmin only gave me 7.50 odd which is way off. Gym was a cut down session to fit it in.
Still waiting to start feeling healthier and still feel like a fraud once I start running.
Saturday - Early start with Rich & Wayne on site for concrete delivery. Ran an easy 5 miles just to check on the legs. Not amazing but it was something.
Sunday - Easy 12 with John and Al. Just under 8s in Voms. Felt pretty bleugh by the end. Still nowhere near 100% so banking close to 40 this week is not too bad. Worried about stag doo next week and how that will affect me.
Weight 10 st 3 lbs after run which is pinging. Just need to try and eat myself healthy and hope I survive a weekend piss up! Looking back to November / December was 3 weeks until I felt 100% so it could be training camp before I am pinging again.
Done my C&C club transfer - gulp. That's it, last piece is in play. Now it's all up to me!
Week 2
Monday - am) Gym - standard session (8 exercises, 3 sets of 12). Increase but not as far as I'd hoped at this stage. Gym session no 16.
So I have decided that I am going to target European Old Timers Champs in Torun in March. Basically the skinny is that it gives me a hell of an excuse to avoid going out and drinking. I know, I know but I am so weak willed and booze just kills me. If I want to do well i.e sub 9 then I simply have to make each session count.
Still not feeling 100%, every day slight improvement but nowhere near on top form. Now I have called it I can go into this last weekend without worrying. Next week it's the real start.
My C&C affiliation is official now. On PO10 and everything. Gulp !!
pm) BJJ - ouch first class. Lots of work and overall a great workout. This should be good for strength and mobility. Lets see how it pans out.
Tuesday - woke up feeling very achy from BJJ BUT healthiest yet. Finally feels like this cold has really started to exit my system. Not too late with road reps tonight. Reckon by Thursday I will feel normal.
Booked flights and Hotel for Torun. In for a penny and that !! No choice but to run the 3000m now as those are the dates I have selected. Will be a smash and grab raid. Now I just need to get into sub 9 shape of that's a waste !!
Spent all day trying to ease back off, it's seriously tight.
Picked John up and headed to Eddington for group session. Jogged to session then 2 miles for 2.5 mile warmup. Felt OK but not expecting much.
Switched Garmin to lap time and ran to feel. Sesh was 10 mins / 7.30 / 5 mins / 2.30 all of 2 mins and plan was to bring the pace down from HM to 3k.
Actually went pretty well and paces were best yet. Actually up there with sessions I was running earlier in the year so brilliant start considering I still feel ill, my back is crocked and I havn't started training with focus yet.
10 mins @ 5.25/mm
7.30 @ 5.24/mm
5 mins @ 5.27/mm
2.30 @ 5.02/mm
4.68 miles in 25 mins and apart from the last rep I didn't feel too far stretched. More to come so really happy with that. Big, big improvement and goes to show exactly how much being in a group is worth.
Diet is garbage and my back is fucked and I have a stag doo to contend with but come next week it is on !!
Wednesday - wake up feeling slightly less ill and slightly less sore back. Legs all still ache as per normal but to be expected. Finally feels like I am gaining momentum and feeling less of a fraud.
Lots of stuff in life finally swinging towards the nice side so happy days. Sure something will throw a spanner in the works but today is a good day!
Very happy with how reps went last night. That's a massive jump. Not sure how much the Alphafly gave me over basic Peggys but I'll switch out next week and compare. Not 100% on the Pegs as a session shoe if I am honest. Vomeros for all easy runs I do like but I think for sessions I will need that extra bit of ping.
Plan from here is pretty obvious. Just slowly bring those paces down towards 5/mm for volume. Cannot believe I am down from 5.45 to 5.36 to 5.22 over the weeks I have been doing these. I am pretty confident that if they are in the 5.0x/mm range feeling like I did yesterday then I am ready to crack 16 mins. It feels awfully close.
Plan today is to get an easy 6.5 in over the trails on the usual route just feeling uber relaxed. I may swerve gym later and just focus on getting recovery in.
The strength work and the BJJ is great for all round fitness. I think they will be game changers this winter. Right now though I am just focussed on feeling healthy and if last year was anything to go by it'll be another week beofre I feel 100%.
Races have been booked for December. A solid month of training races to benchmark fitness. 5k at Battersea which I will try and taper in to. Then a 5 miles at Battersea which is just a fun hit out for a time. It's a vanity project (as I won't be able to do Telford 10k) as a really good chance to nick a top 10 - top 15 spot for my age in the rankings. Then I will do Buntingford 10 miles as it's a BMAF and I really need to crack 60 as I still haven't done it in a race! Those 3 races will give me a strong indicator how the volume work is paying off.
Not overly fussed about the speed work at this stage, strength is good I just need this back to ease off and I'll be good to crack on.
The plan now is get through this weekend and relax about it. It's a long piss up but it's a stag doo so there is no hiding. If I can sneakl out for a couple of half hour runs then great but don't stress. Next week we start on Tuesday and it's full steam ahead to Euro Indoors. No partying, minimal drinking just focussed healthy training building slowly.
Set out and ran early afternoon. Ended up with 5k feeling terrible. Just so tired and feel like I am worse than yesterday. No point pushing while I have this in my system. Frustrating but at least I know I have last nights session under the hood. Really hitting home how much I want to feel healthy. At the stage I cannot remember just waking up and feeling good.
Thursday - shit forgot to blog this. Track, 10 x 500m @5k pace. Aiming at 1.40 or 16.40 5k pace which is only slightly faster than Tuesday session. Off 60 secs recovery. Worked out great as it kept the group together and Andy & I split each rep lead. 1.38, 1.40, 1.39, 1.40, 1.38, 1.39, 1.38, 1.37, 1.37, 1.34 and felt pretty easy (as it should). Off this week clearly in about 17 flat shape and improving off not a lot of effort.
Friday - off to stag doo. No training. Lots of drinking. Smashed but not runied.
Saturday - up and at 'em. 5.2 miles with a big hill. Actually felt OK and was running 7.30s for majority. Another all day session. Pretty much last day pf heavy drinking as Sunday will be easy. Proper funny Oktoberfest bash at Butlins, some horrible sights. Burger King Chips at midnight.
Sunday - feel smooth running. Hangover but not too bad (took Berocca before going to sleep). 5.2 miles @ 7.35 pace finishing with a GF hack McDonalds breakfast and dip my toes in the sea. Last day of stag. Few beers but nothing crazy, if anything too much cola so didn;t sleep much.
Monday - drive home EARLY and BJJ in the evening. That's it. From here on in it's all about Torun 3000m. All barriers have been removed there are no excuses now.
Will finish this update here as everything now is 100% focus on the goal.
In Summary
Since the end of July (after Tracksmith 5000m) I have drifted. Lots of positive changes but knowing I had lots of social events and holidays coming up there wouldn't be and specific focus. I'm actually VERY surprised how quick I can get fit though with not much effort. I guess that's from not being injured and having that base intact.
I feel mega confident now. I know if I get my head in the game quickly (and there are zero excuses) I will be back near my summer best in not a lot of time. The plan is to be sensible especially around double days, gym weights and BJJ and the focus and core of this build will be the 2 x group sessions and long run. Everything else supports that and I would hope to get 3 x gym sessions in per week (minimum 2) and the BJJ is really going to help my core and flexibility.
Sensible build from here (start at 40 miles) and slowly improve diet. Instantly drop alcohol to very specific times.
First race up will be BMAF 5k but I would like to go harder than 10k effort on a Parkrun fairly soon.
Lets goooo
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