Toning It Down

Ok, at some point this week I admitted defeat and admitted to myself that the best way to get out of a hole is to stop digging. I reduced training from an already low level to a barely existing one and on Thursday I didn't do the speed workout the coach had put into the schedule and just ran easily instead. As an easy run this was a good one as my pace has improved for the same HR, so at some level there is actually some progress. I followed this up with a full rest day on Friday (still did strengthening and dynamic stretching and foam rolling) and then an easy long run on Saturday.

The weather this morning was really nice when I left the house but the sun soon disappeared behind some dark clouds and remained there for most of it. The plan said 18, the head said less but when some major chafing started to develop around mile 14 it was time to go home anyway before I did some serious damage. The legs pretty much agreed, it was around that time when they started getting tired so I jogged home from there, missing just over a mile from the plan but hey!

Now it's off to some hot weather training camp (at least that;s how I think of it) with plenty of opportunity to relax and cross train. I don't exactly spend my holidays sitting around and drinking beer (though that does come into it, in moderation) but I'm mostly looking forward to not having to sit in the office chair for a while. Richard might be on to something in his comment to my last post when he pinpointed the Sartorius muscle as the problem, except that I'm pretty sure running does not aggravate it (only sitting does), so I am actually rather optimistic that 2 weeks out of the office will clear that up completely - if it's still an issue when I come back home I'll go and see my physio.

4 Aug

7 miles, 1:03:31, 9:04 pace, HR 131

5 Aug

0

6 Aug

16.6 miles, 2:19:01, 8:22 pace, HR 149