Hitting Out of The Slump

I knew it would happen. You always hope it doesn't and worst case you plateau but sometimes you hit a slump in form. I've had this loads of times in the past and the reality is that I always end up compounding everything. In the spirit of the new me (circa 2022) I am going to do the opposite. Analyse why and plan to move forward.

Am I actually in a slump?

The Parkrun at Lydiard went pretty shocking tbf. That was on 16th December and came off the back of a good set of training. I had tight calfs and I felt pretty low. I had the Sunday off. The next week was the run into Christmas and was pretty average. I ran easy Monday then rested Tues and Weds before an average session on Thursday. Had a solid session on the Saturday then slr Sunday. So far, I can see some interruption and in fairness that's 2 weeks where I've run well after recovering. I remember looking forward to getting back to routine and feeling that Dec had been stop-start.

The following week was bigger at 55 miles and started with a decent solo session  at Eddington although on Boxing Day I would expect to feel bleugh.

From here on is where I start to feel like it's a slump.

Coke club was no drama but an indoor session at Lee Valley went pretty well but I did feel half a stride off the pace at the start of each rep. First bit of real speed so no worries but wasn't as fast as I would like. Still no major concerns. First signs that I am running tired rather than fresh.

Ran OK easy on the Friday then Parkrun on the Saturday I really struggled. Ran 17.03 and did not feel comfortable. Made it a long run and the longer part was bleugh but OK. Slept for a couple of hours on sofa, a sign that I wasn't quite 100%

Ran 9 miles slow on trails the next day and felt absolutely horrific.

Raced NYD 800m and this was the stupidest idea of 2024 so far lol. Felt very very slow and unresponsive and ran 33,34,35,36 laps for 2.18. Really shit run.

Flew to Lanza the next day then did a poor session on the Wednesday, Long ish slow run on Thursday and another poor session on the Friday. All clear signs of fatigue.

Rested Saturday - possibly the only sensible decision I made since the indoor session on the 29th December (a week previous).

On the Sunday I felt really good. 12 miles at 6.25 pace feeling like I had another gear for most of it.

42 miles for the week.

Monday was a shakeout on crazy trails and actually ran and felt really good. Did 4 x hill sprints and plyos later than day.

Tuesday travel home.

Wednesday gym in the morning which felt hard and was part of the new plan with maintenance strength + plyos a very slow 10 coke club.

Thursday felt very DOMSy and some weird stomach issue feeling trapped wind and stomach was not right. Track went awful, straight from the off. 

From my head paces were 73,72,71,71, 2.41, 2.38, 71,73,72,74 and struggled to move at all on cool down. 9.5 miles for the session.

So that's up to today which is a rest day (part of the new plan).

OK... 

Reading back, it looks like my form is dipping ALTHOUGH the 12 miles on Sunday was 949 beats per mile. That's actually probably the best steady state run since last year. That shows the form is in there and has not been lost.

I'm fighting cumulative fatigue  I am not recovering well enough. This is key, I'm not running a marathon or building foundations. 

I'm having health issues sounds dramatic but basically I am getting glutened a fair bit and have probably had several low level colds dragging out across Christmas. Combined with above this really compounds things because lack of recovery is the killer.

I'm doing too much quality OK so not recently but from Boxing day I did far too much and the Parkrun / 800m were run on tired legs. In hindsight I should have dialed RIGHT back on the Parkrun to proper tempo and rested Sunday which would have put me in a place to run fast.

My confidence is low as a chronic over thinker I am getting paranoid that my form has completely seeped away and then trying to overcompensate and force something to happen.

Good habbits have been lost over Christmas. Since Battersea I have crept in drinks, shit food, late nights, lack of mobility and strength work. OK, it's Crimbo and I'm not full time but it explains things.

I expect too much even when I say I don't. That Parkrun I told myself was just a run out but when I line up I want to run hard. I need to pick my races and have confidence to back off and get the outcome for long term goals.

Strength work has been sporadic, I haven't had the consistency that I had in November where I hit the gym 2 - 3 x regularly per week. I had pretty bad DOMS yesterday as I did strength and 10 miles on Wednesday. the new plyo strength plan will pay off BUT you have to accept that it will get slower before it gets faster.

Understanding the why is important but it's also good to analyse the positives out of all this. The key to confidence is feeling good about yourself and you can just keep beating yourself up and expect that will get you out of a slump. A slump is a mindset and even understanding that there are reasons behind why you have dipped doesn't mean you will come out of it. You have to take action.

Building blocks have been made. Training on tied legs is about effort NOT paces. I have done that training and even though it is not ideal for my goals non-the-less that training has been banked. This is why I ran so well on Sunday. It's added fitness and it exists.

It has been identified and now corrected. Learning from mistakes early enough should mean this isn't critical.

It's not that bad, I absolutely catastrophise things but the reality is that things are not as bad as they appear. Last nights session I felt absolutely horrific from before the start but I still ran the 2 blocks of 400m at 1500m race effort at only 2 and 5 seconds below current expected fitness and the 800m reps at around 5k fitness. In my head I was barely moving !!

I'm learning rather than throw my toys out the pram and smashing a bottle of wine and ordering a Lalbagh I am actually trying to work out what's going on and not deviate from the plan. I am improving the plan to help move forward.

What can I control right now?

Recovery, in a word. I have DOMS, my gut health is not 100% and my diet is not great. I need to get back to tracking diet. This will improve gut health. There is a big % of my dip corrected straight away plus getting weight back to where it needs to be is another. Ironing out the DOMS will be a huge benefit. I know that i have to hit plyos 2 x per week minimum but I need to focus on recovery and not screw up the plan. January is about getting fast.

Confidence, getting this back is HUGE. My focus comes from confidence and a happy Daz is a fast Daz. I am going to run 5 x per week with a strength day and a full rest day. The foundations are in and I need confidence in what I have done and confidence in what I am going to do.

What do I want?

I want to get back to running free and comfortable like I felt in November. Each week just getting that little bit faster.

What is the plan?

The plan looks like this-

Training

Monday - S&C & BJJ

Tuesday - Eddington

Wednesday - Coke Club

Thursday - Track

Friday - Rest

Saturday - Long Run

Sunday - Speed work & Plyos

Nutrition - 1900 calories per day until 10 stone, track food and hit micros. 2500  limit on workout days. 3 pints of water per day. 

Strength - maintenance to stop getting injured BUT DO NOT BUILD. Plyos is focus to increase speed. Get those hops higher.

Recovery - stay on top of this and do not take for granted. In January I don't want to be running on tired legs, feel good for sessions and keep discipline on paces. 

Weight management - time to get back towards low 10 stone. Was 10 st 8.5 lbs this morning. 

Long Term

Plan is to hit the upcoming races hard. No more fannying around races for PO10. The mile will be first up. I need to be back running 400s in 68s off decent recovery as that'll put me back on my outdoor times. The plan is to build for that with some specific sessions. Next up in a short turnaround is 3000m which will be a good indicator of where I am tracking for Torun. A week later I have an 800m, I chose this as it fits better with training so I can run a full session on Tuesday and cut back Thursday but still get a long run in on the Sunday. The Saturday race fits better with my schedule. There is an inter area match for EMAC on the following weekend which I may use to get another race in if selected. From then on it's a specific 2 week block to Torun followed by a week of taper. If all goes well I'll bank some PB's along the way.

Right now confidence is on an edge, I'm not panicking but I really need things to turn around hence the dedication to the recovery.

Saturday 13th January

Long run - 16 with Dan & Gemma. Felt much better, progressive from 8.11 down to 6.46. Legs starting to feel like they're ready to push. Pre run weight down to 10 st 4.5 lbs.

Kept calories to 1950 yesterday and will aim to keep under 2500 today. Lets see how eating clean performs.

Sunday 14th

Track. Plan was 8 x 200m off slow walk jog. Warm up - bloody freezing. Reps went 29.xx, 29.xx, 30.xx, 30.xx then changed spikes. 30.xx then 35.xx (tried to relax at 800m pace last one). Really not moving gret, tried to force that. On tired legs after yesterday.

Not a great session but that was pretty much 400m race effort and took a lot out of me.

45 ish miles for the week and another up and down week.

Monday 15th

Rest day. Time to recover like a pro. Weight up to 10 st 4.8 lbs. Plan is to eat clean again and stay with the diet. I know it's not sustainable but lets see what happens. Form is pretty low right now and confidence down. Need to get back into a groove of nailing sessions and getting form and confidence back up. I need consistency. Worst thing has been prioritising running over social life and not getting return. Lesson learnt.

Feel sluggish today, definately not fully recovered so will only do BJJ tonight and no weights / plyo. Def not recovering fast enough right now so need to back off volume until I feel stronger from recent gains. 

Focus is on getting back to hitting time targets. Off of that = under recovered.

BJJ in the evening as XT. Felt good.

Tuesday 16th

Weight up again, 10 st 6.8 lbs. This is crazy, have been tracking and keeping calories down to 2100 yesterday but weight gain way up. I'll keep with it but no idea why this is adding on. Feel thinner if anything. Guess plan is to keep seeing performance effects and what's happening where it counts. Maybe something in system, water retention, gut health I don't know but fairly frustrating situation right now.

Confidence wise probably feel at the lowest for many months right now. Time to bring that up. Pace guide tonight. 5.40 (10k) 5.20 (5k) 5.10 (3k) 4.50 (mile). Start banking consistent sessions and move onwards.

Session was 2k 1k 2k 1k 5 x 200m all off 2 mins. Actually went really well. 6.34, 3.14, 6.35, 3.14 then 36 avge for the just over 200m.

[10 miles]

Wednesday 17th

Weight down to 10 st 4.3 lbs so correct direction. Hoping tomorrow it returns back to goal target (sub 10 st 3 lbs). Legs better than expected today but def need some tlc.

Yesterday, listened to music which helped fire me up and did a lot of activation stretching. Lets hope that we are back on track. Getting those paces below 5.10 pace is the target but I moved well and the effort was correct. Last 2k did not feel as bad as last 2k in a 5k. 

Out of the Slump

So it feels like I am finally getting myself out of the down part that I seemed to be stuck in. Not it's a matter of making sure I stay on an upward trajectory. First thing is making sure I turn up at the next few sessions in A1 shape ready to push. That means not carrying fatigue. Once I have banked some confidence I can start to build strength again and residual fatigue. I need to maintain the diet and weight loss. This is an experiment but without that it's hard to see significant changes. I need to stop deviating from the plan. Don't force anything just keep turning up and it will happen. I am not going to start running 26/27 200s yet I just have to have confidence in what I am doing paying off.

Once I start feeling like I am moving back in the right direction I have to restore life balance. Less focus on running and equalising things. It's not paid off with long term lazer focus. Short bursts around blocks but not extended periods will be better going forward.

First thing first hit race goal targets and stay with them

1500m pace - 68  3000m pace - sub 5  5000m pace - sub 5.10

Coke Club + with Rich. 10 @ 7.58/mm nice and relaxed. Legs a bit tired. Still eating well enough would be nice to see that weight come down. Feel tired going to bed, plan is to recover well and dial into the session tomorrow. 2 weeks of nice confidence sessions and then build. Should hit 50 for the week all being well.