First of all, Happy New Year to my three avid followers (LOL)! I hope you had a great Festive break. My Christmas was 'interesting' on the family front, but managed to get some well needed time away from people, so I'm all good :-). Apologies for taking a little longer to get to this update. I'll put together a belated 2022 review post soon enough, but for this one I'll give you a sense as to where I am at the last few weeks. 1. Rehab Phase Ended?
The last week before Christmas saw the end of the Physio shockwave (ESWT) therapy on my Achilles and Heel. It has had a huge beneficial effect in reducing the epic levels of pain and inflammation down to about a 3/10 generally (from a 7 and sometimes 9/10) on the pain scale.
Treatment is continuing and ongoing, and I've invested in my own home ESWT device to continue some self administered treatment on my ankle ligaments and tendons that are now flaring up having treated the Achilles. I expected this as so much of the problems in my left foot and ankle are to do with a very long standing old injury to my ankle a decade ago. This has left me with chronic ankle instability which I strongly suspect is a key culprit.
So much so, in fact, that after training and a good soak in my hot tub, I did some work on the area and there was a very deep 'pop' in the Anterior/Talus area (definitely bone rather than ligament) which suggests whatever was 'out' might well be back 'in' now. It certainly feels more free in the ankle compartment than it has been. This gives me caution though as I can feel the ligaments in the ATFL and CFL (outside of ankle that were trashed a decade ago) starting to pipe up when I'm running. I tread very carefully and need to look at strengthening my ankle stability as a focus over the next few weeks. That said I was VERY pleased with my progress through the last 3 weeks of December! I averaged 6 hours training per week split fairly evenly between:
Treadmill runs (up to 45 mins 2-3x per week)
Outdoor power walks (1hr twice a week)
static bike (45 mins 2x a week)
And my first trail run as promised (a modest 10K effort that was a mix of very slow jogging and brisk walking... I think they call this speed-hiking)
My stats are healthy and show a constant rise in my ATL (Acute Training Load - effort measure), a rise in my CTL (Chronic Training Load - longer term... which is my fitness measure) and my TSB (Training Stress Balance or 'Form', which is the measure of productive training zones or overtraining). These are the key indicators I use by Training Peaks to see where I am at.
As you can see in the first image, my black line (CTL - Fitness progress) is going up, and the red line is above the top so the effort I'm putting in is raising the fitness bar in a sustainable way. The second image shows the TSB and that my balance is in the productive zones most of the time. This will be the key approach over the next 8 weeks as I go into my heavy base-building phase now. 2. Base building
These next coupe of months are treading a bit of a tightrope between productive training and re-injury. The balance needs to be spot on. I want to just get out there and start running 15km's again, but patience and consistency are the big changes I'm working to so I'm reigning in my desire to push too hard. I can run much faster than I have been, but no way am I going to until I get the injuries strengthened back up and my base in place. This means a heavy zone 2 commitment to my training. I need to Go FAR, not fast. and that means changing my physiology to be as efficient with energy as possible. Speed will come. I just need to go steady and ensure my body doesn't break down. This means being vigilant for the 'Overtraining Fairy'....
3. Avoiding the Overtraining Fairy
So many times have people fallen foul of the overtraining fairy who creeps up on you just as you build a head of steam, then comes along and f*cks your shit up. From nowhere... one minute you are coasting along a trail, the next your ankle has had a catastrophic event for no apparent reason and you are limping your 100km ultra for the entire time (stupid, yes... but it happened).
The Overtraining Fairy blesses you often from nowhere. Listlessness, exhaustion, injury, illness, lack of progress... all symptoms when he comes and kicks your ass.
Rest days matter! Not pushing mileage too fast, or intensity too high too quickly, are crucial. I've been a victim to this bastard a few times and know the signs well. I am avidly tracking my exercise data and when the rest suggests extra rest is required... I listen, and i rest.
It's a fine balance but the best way I can build tolerance and arm myself against this beast is by focusing on Zone 2 training for the VAST majority of my training the next few months. Building volume gradually and getting the foundations rock solid.
Simple overtraining warnings:
- too much volume too quickly for the body to recover and adapt
- training too often at higher intensity
If you are wiped out the next day you are overtrained. If you are very sore. You are overtrained. If you are feeling physically low, you are overtrained.
My aim is to not get to those points. Those charts from earlier are a great indicator and show the sweet spot well. Volume and intensity will build naturally. Just have to ensure I don't go too far,, too quickly, too often, too soon.
Tempo runs and Lactate Threshold Training will all come in good time, but not now. Not yet. That's my ego wanting to go faster or further, and that leads to problems. Now is the time for stoic restraint.... and talking of Stoic Restraint... that brings me onto weight reduction and fat loss plans...
I am keeping it real simple when it comes to eating...
Increase lean protein
reduce simple carbs (less than 50g per day) for 6 days a week
Plenty of veg
easy on the fats
Intermittent fasting 17:5 (17 hours no food, 7 hour eating window) for 6 days a week
No snacking in the evening after 7pm
Calories around 1800 per day (I need about 2600 per day based on body mass) for 6 days a week
1 day a week re-feed (this keeps your metabolism from crashing)
Working on rebalancing my gut bacteria
getting 8 hrs quality sleep a night
I was very restrained through most of Christmas and New year, and this week has been highly disciplined. Combine that with plenty of Zone 2 training (typically 5-6 days a week), pounds are starting to come off. Finally. I still have my 90kg target to aim for, and am at around 105kg. That's 15kg. or creating an overall calorie deficit of 115,000 calories. Using the maths, that means approximately 190 days at a 600 calorie per day deficit to reach target. That would be June from this week.
Some may think I'm overthinking all this, but I know what works for me and I know what has led me into problems. When you are built like a wall, are injured to f*ck, and have as much stress going on as I typically have had you get a sense of what you can and can't do so well.
My eating plans assume a linear progression, but as I've shown before, things rarely go smoothly. But we need a target, and this is mine. Let's see how well we do.
Thanks for reading
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