Last week saw me return from two weeks all inclusive in the sun. I set out with the best intentions... I honestly did. My priority was not to let slip too much of the hard work I've put in, try to remain clean and avoid too much alcohol. Despite the temptations I remained partially successful... I'm not much of a drinker so that part was easy. I probably partook in too many deserts (the Baclava was superb!), ate plenty but kept pretty clean. I say pretty clean, and that meant lots of salad... before diving in to eggs, pancakes, bulgur wheat and meat. It wasn't too much. The training was always going to be the big challenge in the heat.
it was typically 38-40C every day. I went out twice at 7am in the morning. Burst into flames within the first KM and realised it would be a shit run being that hot. I fell back to the hotel gym, which while air-conditioned, had the cooling power of a fart. It was better than nothing though and managed to run 5/7 days in the first week.
I took a few days out after this week and had to revert to the bike and cross trainer for the following week. This was after a day hiking around Pamukkale in flip flops, which was probably the worst thing I could have done for my Achilles and ankle issues! The soreness lasted the entire week so chose to ease right back and let it heal up again.
I probably gained a kilo or two, but it was the right trade off to recover a bit as on my return last week it was time to move into my peak volume phase of my training plan.
This is the fortnight I've been dreading. These two weeks are about more training mileage than I've done before across such a period. It's also daily rehab with compression, rolling and massage gun. My life is basically work, run, rehab, sleep the last week and for the next 10 days. The plan as it stands:
Completed since I got home last Tuesday:
Wed - 8KM interval session
Thu - 8KM recovery run
Fri - Rest
Sat - 8km Tempo
Sun - 20km Trail
Mon - 8km recovery run
Tues - 2km walk / 7km Interval run
Wed - 4km walk / 6km recovery
From Today (Thurs)
Thu - Rest
Fri- Rest
Sat - 50Km Trail
Sun - 20km Trail
Mon - 10km treadmill
Tues - Rest
Wed - 8km Recovery
Thu - 8km Recovery (but may be intervals depending on injury/how I feel)
Fri - Rest
Start of Taper Period
Sat - 20Km Trail
Sun - 10km Trail
Mon - 6Km recovery
and so on.... My peak volume will basically be almost 160km in under two weeks before heading into taper. Time, energy and how my injuries feel will determine how much I can get through the apex of the volume this weekend and at what pace. Now it's simply time on feet, recovery improvement, high mileage endurance. Pace is not the goal now. Being able to run every day back to back for a week is the primary target. I can run quicker than before at much lower heart rates. Will I be fast enough for the cut offs. Yes, but at what cost? I have my cut-off times for the challenge and the hardest fastest days are days 1 & 2! This could wreak havoc on my legs for the rest of the challenge as both days are nearly 60km each! That is something I really have to be mindful of.
Too slow and I will end up in a support vehicle for a few hours, too fast and I might struggle in the latter days when I'm most tired. Not great, but it is what it is, so will deal with it as it happens.
I'll be throwing in a few more interval and hill sessions during my taper period to hold onto the pace I've built, but now it's ensuring I have what I need to survive the challenge which is now just 5 weeks' away.
It doesn't end with the taper though, as I have a large amount of admin (kit, fuel, etc) to get together for the 10 days I'll be away. It'll need to be idiot proof for each day as my brain will be mush by Day 4 of the challenge. I'll post separately though about Kit, organisation and admin.
Finally, the next few days I just need to get through injury free. If I can achieve that it will be a HUGE win and give me great confidence. I'll be going into a 70K weekend on heavily trained legs with only a couple of days rest, to simulate some of the fatigue I'll be encountering. Normally I'd have 7 days off before tackling 50k. Not this time. It's going to be very hard, but the adaptations I anticipate from this coming few days should be significant. Wish me luck! Thanks for reading...
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