A Little Blip

So it happened. I missed the long run on the weekend. After an okay run Saturday, everything was either aching or tired come Sunday. I think part of training is knowing when to take a pit stop. Sunday was my pit stop. The legs where still feeling less than fighting fit come Monday so I stuck with the plan's recovery/cross train day and did a bit of Zwifting and a little upper body cardio.

Today the body was feeling more rested, so I cracked back on with the plan. Three sets of four 400m reps with a short 100m recovery and 350m between sets. Got the pacing pretty good. Not too easy but hard enough on the last one of each set. Definitely knew I was working for it tonight. Luckily, it's another rest day tomorrow.

Still Following the Plan

I almost can't believe how well I've stuck to the training plan. I'm very nearly back in the habit - and I'm not talking nuns garments. Up tonight it was longer reps of a kilometre and Tuesday it was shorter, quicker ones. Little by little, week by week, my pace is edging up. Yesterday was an easy Zwift recovery day and up tomorrow is a rest/recovery day - so that'll be more Zwifting then...

Beginning to Creak

My left achilles is feeling a little sore. Nothing I haven't had before - back when I was proper running. I'm guessing my aging bones are going to need a little more care these days. The balancing act begins...

It's been another decent week of training. I missed one run from the plan, replacing it with yesterday's walk instead, because of said achilles and I wanted to give it a bit of extra rest. That did help as it felt improved today and didn't really bother me during or after my morning run. Also managed a couple of good Zwifts in the saddle on my rest/recovery/cross-train days. So overall, a good week with decent intensity.

Fitness-wise, my 'body battery' finally hit 100%. Hasn't been there for over two years! Sleep scores are into the nineties and my seven day resting heart rate is down to 53. It's all still heading in the right direction.

Ants in My Pants

It was a gentler end to the week running wise, with a decent forty minute run Saturday and a solid hour on the bike Sunday followed by a walk in the heat of the afternoon. Today is officially a rest day according to the plan but I couldn't just chill and, with the slightly more pleasant conditions, decided to take in my short test loop. It's only 2.2km but has a bit of up and down and provides a good indication of how things are going - and they are going well. I managed to run all but the main up and consequently came home in a new fastest time, some 90 seconds quicker than my previous best - then I checked my records and realised I was actually 180 seconds quicker! Very pleased with that and I can feel it won't be long until I can run the entire loop.

Oki Doki So Far This Week

Recapping the week so far, Sunday's 'long' run went well. My legs felt a bit heavy from Saturday's run but that only lasted a few minutes into it. I'm running more and walking less, although the hills, once the strongest part of my game, still kill me - but I'll get there. It was a good run, and I covered the ground five minutes quicker than last time, so progress is still good.

Up Tuesday was fifteen 30s efforts followed by today's five 800m reps. Neither were the fastest but with every session, I feel my powers returning. Oh, and I did an easy Zwift bike on Monday by way of active recovery.

Been a Quieter Week

After my biggest week of training last week, I think it was understandable I was feeling a bit knackered this week. I missed the training plans tempo run on Thursday as I was feeling empty and took a full rest day yesterday so today I decided to sort of do it today instead of the easy run. It was a plain old out and back, slightly downhill on the out so net uphill on the way back, but not by much. I went out too fast and suffered coming back, with the couple of bumps grinding me down to a walk - but only for a few steps, honest. Ended up with my fastest average pace by quite a way so I'm pleased with that. Hopefully, I will be okay for tomorrow's 'long' run. Long really isn't that long at this stage, so I should be okay if I take it gentle.