Daz Does Tri

Last couple of days have let the achillies heal a bit and a chance to take stock of running form. Fri, Sat, Sun, Mon were all run days which in hindsight should have been rest - well maybe 2 of them.  Tuesday I rested as I was mega busy anyways and today I did a tentative jog at Lower Mill. Decided to scratch the Garmin, I think under the circumstances a break from the watch is a great idea.  So run - walk when it felt the slightest niggle and stretch for probably 3.5 miles around the lake loop. Pretty successful as there was no limping.  Previous runs have all left me hobbling and my stride has been very much start - stop as the heel strike breaks.  It's hard to explain but in my head running just hasn't been flowing. Today it was much more relaxed and 'flowy' (is that a word, it should be!!??) Afterwards I didn't have the usual pains and aches, just still general calf tightness.  Noticeable was a tightness on lower back and hamstrings which I will go...

I was half way through writing a blog about cracking 16 mins but after today's run I've kinda just fucked it off. My achillies hasn't properly healed yet.  2 days complete rest last week where I could barely walk without a severe limp and 3 days running, it's s_l_o_w_l_y coming back.  I'm 99% sure that running easy is OK as it's improving BUT it's not 100% and it does affect me slighly enough on runs to be off putting.  Uphill especially it's a bit of a stop start affect on my stride as I have to heal strike.  I think it should be fine by the end of the week but we shall see. It'll get better, and I can accept the fact that I have to be patient.  What's really fucking me off though is slipping back into old habbits that affect running more than the niggles. This morning's run prep was basically 2 coffees and a glug of water.  I've slipped back into the old routine of not drinking enough water, lots of coffee and lots of snacks.  Everythin...

Pushed pretty hard last week - I'd done a long blog but it was boring as shit.  Long story short - great intervals, pushed paces on, struggled but got it done. Fucked up acillies on Friday, got annoyed and sacked off the healthy diet immediately and got pissed all weekend and at lots of curry and bbq food and snacks.  Leg OK on Sunday so Ran long and was all good in the hood. Rest day Monday to prepare for the 5k TT, decided to go all in on giving my achillies best chance not to snap!  Possibly a terrible idea (it was last time I did a 5k TT) - I probably need to be more sensible going forward BUT it is important to get a marker in. At lower Mill for a couple of days so perfect to use my favourite Howells Mere loop that I've done tempos on in the past. Perfectly flat and 0.43 miles around so just about 7 laps.  Obviously really quiet there so route completely to myself. Up early and jam bagel with 3 coffees to set me up. 2 laps warm up at 6.40 pace feeling good....

Sessions are an interesting topic. Off the bat I really don't think people put enough time into thinking about what the session is aiming to achieve. For me, sessions fall into 2 camps. 1 - aiming to improve running AT a pace 2 - aiming to achieve faster pace Running at pace is basically lactate buffering - being able to handle running at effort for longer periods of time.  The difference is that the pace may not be there however the most important thing is the recovery between efforts is critical. An example is 12 x 400 off 30 seconds recovery.  It's 3 miles of effort, this reps for this session should be at around 3k pace however the important thing is being on the line to go on 30 seconds.  You may have an off day and only be running 5k pace, that doesn't matter. The recovery is key to this session. Running to achieve a faster pace is a different matter.  The focus is about hitting the pace therefore recovery can be adjusted up (if needed) to be able to hit the pa...

Another week in the bag. Another week closer to fitness. Another strange one.  The hard stuff - Tues & Thurs felt great.  Tuesday I must admit I didn't fancy the session after a late start and busy day but smashed it out fine.  Also Fridays run was up there with best for some time.  I rested up Saturday, just a few aches and pains that I wanted to be sensible over.   The two easy runs - Wednesday and Sunday were just a bit bleugh.  Easy pace both 7:07/mm) but felt a little heavy and Sunday particularly very achey afterwards. 37 miles for the week @ 6:50/mm avge.  2 rest days so TP numbers are 55 CTL 63 fatigue and 0 form.  Pepped up a bit.  Have taken the paces up for every run, just the 7 miles missing from Saturday on last week but enough quality on the other days to close the gap. Next week a big push to run hard Tuesday so will rest again tomorrow. Legs pretty good, just a little heavier than I would like.  If they can fresh...

...with yourself is critical if you want to run.  Interesting one today.  Feel good - mentaly strong and keen to push onwards today.  However, few little aches and pains just hovering about. Had intended to do something stronger today - maybe a hardish 7 like last week but get the pace down a bit to low 6s. There's no point running today if I don't go harder so the possibility of adding an unplanned rest day in is sitting there.  It's not a huge deal right now, I have had 4 solid weeks of progression. TP numbers are showing consistent growth for the last 5 weeks, maybe an extra rest day now would work better than a cut back week?  Better to keep pepped up than get stale. Not sure, right now I am 60::40 to rest and run long easy tomorrow feeling fresh.  Rest Monday and then go to Tuesday stronger (that's going to be a big step up session). We'll see.  Going to have a coffee now so that will likely fire me up lol I'll be like a caged Tiger if I don't run...

I'm sitting at the stage now where it's easy to start to plateau.  I need to push on, break through to another level rather than  getting stagnant and running the same times over and again. Last year I was more than happy to be here.  Capable of breaking 17 mins for 5k after 7 years of shocking performances.  I was more than happy to just be in that shape and stay there.  This time, I need to go quicker. The key now is not to start running faster and putting in more and more effort and try to muscle my way to speed. It is being able to run more relaxed at these paces.  Sounds like the opposite of what is needed but in order  It's the difference between running 5 min mile pace eyeballs out and hanging on, and running 5 min mile pace feeling relaxed like there is another gear. If I had to pick a target session I would say running my 10k threshold session at 5.3x avg with the downhill 5k in sub 17 for the same HR as last time.  Getting easier at easy...