Another Bloody Injury...

Began the week by going for a short 3.5 mile run but went as hard as I could. As a result the following day my legs were just about dead and had to cut down the intended 9 mile route to a 5 mile run. I struggled in the early stage but after about half way the legs were not feeling so bad once they had got going. On Wednesday I went out to do my 9 mile route and have to say I felt great throughout so decided to extend the route slightly and did 10 miles in the end. The extra mile wasn't much in the end but it felt more than it was, and was good to break the psychological barrier having only done a max of 9 miles during the midweek in the past. Even though I was running at much the same pace as usual my heart rate was nowhere near as high so I wonder whether my body is adapting well to these runs.

The week was going oh so well until Thursday where I was going to go for a short 5 mile run. I really didn't feel like it and so was going to have my rest day instead but forced myself out anyway. Quite early on I felt the soreness in my foot return (the bone before my large toe), so decided to slow right down and return home after just 3.5 miles. This is a worrying development as the last time this happened I had to stop running for 2 months. As a result I didn't run yesterday or today as a precaution and have iced it a few times. It doesn't seem as bad as last time and I'm feeling no real soreness at the moment but we'll see what its like when I next go out for a run. Thankfully the timing isn't too bad as I would have started to taper down before next Wednesday's 5k race anyway. I'm contemplating a very short run tomorrow, or if not on Monday to test the water.

I've think my training at the moment is a bit confused and as a result my body doesn't know what distance to adapt to. The worst case scenario is that I could actually be losing some of my natural pace but at the same time not significantly improving my endurance. I don't run to a set programme and this might be the core of the problem (if there is one). I'm going to have to give it some thought over the next couple of weeks.

Comments

  1. Rich20 August 2007 at 14:20

    I had this dilema. Training for the MDS means slow and steady, but your natural insict is to run as fast as possible. I've never have been and never will be anywhere near as quick as you, but I've really had to turn my back on fast short events because trainnig for them was upsetting my body. I hate it in a way, becuase now I doubt I could manage three 7 minute miles on the trot, because my body has adapted to endurance. I set myself a very rigid fixed routine for endurance, but do throw an interval session in as well. I know I have lost my top end speed by some margin, but I also know I can cover a much longer distance now. You might end up sacrificing some of your speed for the bigger picture, at least until April 2009.

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