Continued Focus

Today was long (for me) run day and I covered 11 hilly road kilometres in an hour. Pretty happy with that as it's been another week of focussed training. Early part of the week I ran my fastest set of 6 one-kilometre reps at 4:10 pace, followed midweek by the first of the autumn Zwift academy bike training sessions and yesterday I ran three sets of 5 by 1-minute reps at 3:45 pace off 30s recovery.

What still stuns me, when I think about yesterday's session, is that at my peak, I was able to string 18 of those one-minute reps together - without the recovery for my 5k PB. I can't imagine how that was even possible! But then it was a decade and a half ago and I ain't getting any younger.

With that said, back eighteen months ago when the reboot began, when I couldn't even run a single kilometre without stopping to walk, I didn't imagine I'd be running kilometre reps at 4:10 or even thinking about making my legs move at 3:45 pace. I've come a long way in a relatively short time. It's been a bit of a journey to get here, with a few injuries and niggles along the way and the journey is far from over....

Focused

It has been my best week's training for a while. The achilles is pretty much back to normal. Still ever so slightly tight but five minutes of gentle stretching before the off and I don't even notice it.

I've run a couple of solid treadmill interval sessions and a decent session on the bike, culminating in today's treadmill session where I hit 16kph for the first time - and it felt comfortable! I don't want to get ahead of myself, but I feel my current 5k PB isn't going to be my PB for that much longer, if you get my drift. A few more solid weeks of training and then it'll be a park run.... I feel so good I reckon I might even be ready to don the club vest and complete my return from retirement in some actual club events like the GLCL - when I say ready, I mean in the spring when it's not so cold and wet....

Caught a Cold

I knew something was up last weekend. My 'body battery'* was showing a distinct lack of recharge after a night's sleep. The sleep itself was pretty sound but I felt tired. That went on for a few days before Tuesday and I awoke - again, the body battery wasn't recharging as it should - to a sore throat. That explained things. My first cold for almost two years.

I think I'm over it now as my battery was more recharged this morning, so I headed out for a decent run in the forest followed by an easy 30minute cool down on the bike. Despite the cold and feeling a bit tired, I did put in some solid training through the week with a better-than-expected work lunch 5k from the office on Wednesday - setting a new course pb by over 90s. Monday, I ran a some of 800 reps at a decent pace and in between those there was some solid Zwifting on the bike.

Looking forward to a few weeks of uninterrupted training....

* The Garmin watch stat.

Happy With That

It was time for another parkrun and I headed over to Gloucester for the Kingsway one. It was nice to catch up with my old chums Sylvia and Graham albeit I didn't have too much time to chat afterwards as I had to swap in the spare tyre on the car as I had a puncture which I can get repaired hopefully.

My achilles was stiff before the off and I put in a gentle 2k warm up, during which I could feel it loosening up and by the start it felt okay but I wasn't intending to push it just in case. I set off well back down the field to force myself to go slowly. My first kilometre was just inside five minutes and it all felt okay. By then the field was thinning out and I decided to increase the pace a little as it was feeling easy and the achilles remained in good shape.

I wasn't looking at my watch during the run. I didn't need to. I wasn't chasing a pb. Today was just about running comfortably and not breaking down. Turns out I was pacing at around 4:35 pace for the last four kilometres but it felt slower as I didn't feel like I was working overly hard. Yes, I was puffing but I was nowhere near the limit. My average heart rate today was 140bpm (peak 155) vs a ballpark 155-160 (peak 170+) when I'm on the limit. Combine the lowish heart rate with the surprise of dipping inside 23 minutes and it means I haven't lost too much fitness during these several weeks of slight injury. Infact, I might even have gained some!

Steady Week

So, the achilles is still feeling tight but does ease up after twenty minutes. Just walking around the house, I don't feel it at all. I'm doing some stretches and it is definitely no longer in the danger zone. I've managed to put in some decent training without any repercussions. It's a case of having the confidence that it's not suddenly break down again but equally I'm taking a cautious approach. I'm in this for the long run - boom, boom - so not going to blow it now. Slow and steady wins the race....

A Real Run

It's been a week of building. I can still feel the achilles when I run but it's not painful, just sort of a little tight. I've stuck to the treadmill (interspersed with bike sessions) but increased the intensity bit by bit with a couple of interval sessions. Friday's session saw me almost back to pre-injury speeds and it felt almost easy so I'm happy I've managed to retain fitness through the last few weeks. Today I braved a real run and that too was decent. I took it easy but still managed a time equalling my recent efforts on the loop. Very nearly normal service resumed....

The Aches are Easing

It has been a frustrating few weeks. I've been itching to get back out there but my left achilles is only now just about ready. I've consigned myself to the treadmill, so I don't get caught miles from home, and have to limp back. It's been gentle. No real interval sessions. Just steady, easy pace.

After today's 12½km I think I'm ready to resume full training - although I will ease back into it just to be on the safe side. I'd rather complete a week of slightly lesser training and be 100% next week, than jump right back in, guns blazing, and put myself back to square one.

Oh, the joys of managing injury while hopefully not losing too much fitness or speed...

Marshalling Duties

So, the weekend before last I was on duty at the Fan Brycheiniog race and today I was marshalling Bal Bach in the Black Mountains race. Weather today was at best unpleasant. I was off for almost a month after Fan B last year, so I was pleased to get up and down safely and in a good time, somewhere in the region of 20 minutes quicker up and 15 down. Happy with the progress. Today was meant to be up to the summit and along the ridge for a bit of a run before the marshalling, but it was wet and horrible, so I only did 5k before calling it quits. 

In between the two marshalling, it's not been great running training as I injured my left achilles last Friday. It was hot in the forest and my right foot blistered midway through a 10k solid pootle, subconsciously leading me to alter my gait and then knacker my achilles. It wasn't proper knackered, just sore. Luckily, it was okay for the Zwifting but that's not the same as running and I felt things ebbing away. Except I had some really good hard efforts of the ol' Zwift, including a few virtual hill-climbs. I like a good grind - ooh matron. Any there's nothing gindier than several k's out of the saddle at 11% in a 10k climb averaging 6%. When I'm on the climb portal I can't help but push it to the limit. Can't wait for the virtual Tourmalet to come around again, to have another crack at that bad boy, having watched the pros go at it on the real thing in the La Vuelta.

Another Year, Another Fan Brycheiniog

Yes, it was that time of year again (yesterday) where I marshal the summit for the fell race of the same name. Maybe next year I'll find a stand in for my marshalling spot so I can take a crack at the race itself. I don't mind the marshalling though as it's a good training. I 'time trialled' it both up to the summit and back down again to compare my times a year on. 19 minutes quicker up and 17 minutes quicker down. I'll take that. My legs do feel a bit sore today, hence a gentle bike session but it's a vast improvement from last year, where I was on light training duties for three weeks in the aftermath.

Other than the marshalling, it's been a typical week of training. The bike reps have slipped a bit over the last few weeks, so I need to plan in a few structured work outs to continue improvement there. It's also time for another parkrun next weekend to keep that momentum going and I really need to pencil in another race or two but overall, I'm pleased how things are going.

A Bit Up and Down

The week started okay with a good set of 800's on Tuesday and a solid Duathlon, which was somewhat spoilt by an intermittent drop-out during the run, which cost me a new best 20-minute distance (duathlon) effort. Need to get to the bottom of the interference, as it wasn't exactly intermittent. It was almost exactly every two minutes, which suggests interference from some other device, sending out a beacon or similar. Never had that before, so a bit odd.

Thursday's and Friday's training was a bit of a right off due to an emergency at work that I had to attend. After getting a good night's sleep last night, I was back on it properly today with my best Flaxley Long loop of the reboot. I got further up the long climb than I have before, and I closed in another few seconds on the east side climb segment, beating my best from 2016. Only another ten seconds to go and that one will be mine....

The First Pound is the Heaviest

Well, actually, the first kilogram. Which is even better. Yes, the first kilogram has left the building. A few more still required to exit stage left but it's a good start.

On to the training and it's been a good week. Speed reps Tuesday followed by the Zwift duathlon league race Wednesday, of which I managed to get transitioned to the treadmill in time this week. Still haven't quite got the running down but I know where I need to focus. The first five minutes I couldn't run for toffee, then I got going but didn't have the courage to increase the speed more rapidly and ended up having far too much left in the tank as the twenty minutes elapsed. I fractionally exceeded my best previous run, but there is much more to come. Next time I must be braver...

Thursday was treadmill tempo hill reps and Friday an easy-ish Zwift bike with a few hard efforts - to set some short climb PBs. Up today was a hilly road run. Not overly long and I'm glad of that. It was so humid, I was dripping. Still managed my best time round the loop and homing in on my best from pre-reboot.

Probably an easy something tomorrow...

Bit of a Recovery Week

It's been an easier week. It didn't start off that way as I put in a really good set of six 1-kilometre reps off a 200m recovery on Tuesday followed by the Not Zwift Duathlon on Wednesday. I say not Duathlon because after hammering out 35 minutes on the bike - and it was hard work - I didn't managed to get transitioned to the treadmill in time, I was so close but by the time it loaded in, it was past the start time and that was my race over. Was quite disappointed and didn't feel like doing a twenty-minute run to get no points. I'll try again this week. After that it's been a few easier sessions as to be honest I've been feeling a bit jaded. So, I've listened to my body and taken it easy. Full rest day tomorrow and then I'll be refreshed and back on it...

Top of Leaderboard...

I finally claimed my first Strava Segment of the Running Reboot 2.0 and in fact, my first for what must be over a decade. It was only a local one in Hope Wood, so unlikely to see any super athletes attempting it but you can only target what's been set and that's what I did. 

So, on the back of my Parkrun success Saturday my legs felt okay. It took me a few minutes to loosen up and I didn't set out to attempt it but by the time I got into the woods I thought, hell, let's do this. I learnt from my previous attempt - that and the fact I've worked out how to set up auto-segments on my watch - and started the effort from, well, the start this time. There wasn't much science to it. Just run at as fast a pace as you can that'll get you to the end. I was hurting as the final stretch came into view and emptied the tank, but it was worth it to get the record by 7s. The first of - I'd like to say many - but it'll be more like one or two...

Not Gonna Lie...

I went for it... but in a controlled manner. Based on my training. All very scientific...

Anyway, despite a strong week's training, I felt I had a decent shot at a new 5k Parkrun time this morning. I was meeting up with one of my running compadres from times gone by for the Monmouth one, which I've not run before. It was a course suited to fast times, with a short lap followed by three big ones and pancake flat. It's safe to say it wasn't the most pleasant conditions but at least I wasn't going to overheat!

I had my pace, locked and loaded,4:30/km, and off I set. I managed to not get carried away at the start (for once) and held a pace around the target. Up a bit here, down a bit there, up a bit, down a bit, everywhere and round a bit but that doesn't paint the true pacing picture as my three big laps (1.5km/lap) were all within 5s of each other, so I'll take that as consistent.

Crossed the line in 22:29. A thirty second improvement on my Mallards Pike time from a couple of months back and a good steppingstone towards a time starting with 21...

It was good to catch up with my old buddy and his wife and hopefully I'll get out and about to do a few more Parkruns further afield. Oh, and I should say it was nice to see the Ashton's. Sue's encouragement at the switchback was most welcome.