Having had a full 7 days rest after the main event, and given my toe a chance to start to heal, it was time for week 1 of 2 of my recovery training. Still feeling sore in my toe, my legs feeling empty, and still VERY stiff with my Achilles and Heel Bursitis, I was down on the south Devon coast with my family for a week's 'break'. I love Devon, Dorset and Cornwall, and it's always an outdoor type of holiday with lots of beaches, walks, etc... but by Christ it is hilly!
Originally I think I had an idea for my Recovery training on a treadmill at a snail's pace for for 30 mins. Three times. But no. Confronted with stunning trails, hills and sunshine on my doorstep I felt obligated to take advantage of them. I'm a sucker for coastal hills. I utterly love them, despite them being as hard as fuck to get up after putting my lower-body through what can only be described as a human-blender.
Little energy. Much soreness. But I'm a trail runner now and this is what we do, right? This is what it's all about. You and the elements.
I just had to be at least a little smart here. It turns out I wasn't really.
Nothing bad, but still feeling pretty burned out. I think I probably needed and extra week before running anything to recover entirely. The runs were great, but the start of this training week and it just feels like hard work and my energy levels are pretty flat. I'm intending to dial it back to just a couple of runs this week. I'm cleaning up my eating again as well, which stripping out most carbs is flattening the energy further at the moment.
I have a number of issues that still nag me
about 8kg of weight to drop
still chronic pain in Achilles, heel, peroneal and ankle
my feet to get looked at regarding blister prevention on the more aggressive trails
Building better sleep/early rise to run habits
Recovery is part of this. The good thing is that I have time on my side for now. I'd like to run a 54km Ultra challenge at the start of Sept on the South Downs I've seen. Hilly, great scenery, good trail, and a good time of year to do it. I have it in my legs, so it's just a matter of keeping it there for now. That's about 10 weeks away so i have the time to recover, drop some weight and push into those issues, while also not having to go crazy to get into the shape needed.
My weekly long-run mileage schedule will look like this
June
- wk2 7km
- wk3 10km
- wk4 15km
July
- wk1 20km
- wk2 25km
- wk3 25km
- wk4 30km
Aug
- wk1 35km
- wk2 20km (Taper)
- wk 3 15km (Taper)
- Wk4 5km (Final Taper)
Sep
- wk1 0Km REST up into event
Unless I make some drastic progress, I'll be likely leaving the 100km to next spring. That gives me a chance to drop more weight, build greater strength, put my injury issues behind me and to work on getting quicker. That's the semblance of an early plan I have right now. So as a quick training summary here are the stats from last week
Mon - 4km hilly trail run
Tues - 4km hilly trail run
Wed - REST
Thurs - 4km hilly trail run
Fri - REST
Sat - REST
Sun - 6km local trail run
As mentioned it's a bit too much first week back running. It gets the system moving again though. The lymphatic system works better, and reminds my body that it needs to hold onto the miles I'd put in it so far.
Weight-wise, I'd gained about 6 pounds/3kg from eating what I wanted for a couple of weeks which was largely water weight so no real damage done. I had in fact spiked up to 100kg after the event, which was what I think mostly high inflammation and high water retention from the event. But I'm back down to 98Kg levels again. It's just taking me a week or so to trigger the fat adaption to kick back in. I'll be fasted running again this weekend (that'll be a 'treat', LOL), so in a weeks time I'm hoping I'll be more consistent with my energy levels as this week I've felt pretty drained Looking at the chart though, I'm pretty pleased with how far I've come. Still the 90kg target to reach! Onward...
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