“All give some, some give all”
Resting HR (average): 56
Injury status: Left calf tightness 2/10
Neural stretching (knee to nose. averages in cm):
Baseline 29; Afterwards 24.5
The worst part of starting up again is that exercise is always hard! You lose conditioning so quickly, and it takes time to get back to your previous fitness levels. It makes life very frustrating, but allows one to appreciate the rewards of being consistent.
Monday was a very easy 8km, trying to get the body used to running again.
Tuesday was a slow 15km. I can’t believe how hard it was to run a mid-length run, even at a slow pace. Wednesday was a day of strengthening and nice to do some upper body work on the total trainer.
On Thursday I had a tempo run and I was quite surprised I was able to go under 5:00/km. Not that it is very fast, but the fact I could run faster than what I have been doing is good. The remaineder of the day I was very tired and could feel my body telling me it had been pushed hard, and needed rest.
When my alarm rang at 2am on Friday morning to get up for a long run, my body couldn’t respond! I ended up sleeping in and aiming for recovery. Saturday was much the same.
Sunday I felt like doing the same, but I knew I had to get out and exercise. It was my first Sunday run in 7 weeks! That’s a disgraceful statistic, and one I can’t afford to repeat as Comrades Marathon 2010 starts to loom closer.
I knew it would be a tough run as my neural mobility was very bad. The right side of my low back was sore, and that resulted in me only being able to get down to 33cm in my neural stretches. Anything above 30cm represents danger and indicates my calf is more likely to flare up.
I started off slow as I could barely run, struggling to relax as everything felt difficult. Whilst it was a faster run than Tuesday, it felt twice as hard. All I wanted to do was stop, and I had to remind myself, “just one more step, one more km, keep going.”
Most serious Comrades Marathon programs will be starting in December. Time is ticking away, and now it’s time to make sure I train hard and more importantly train consistently. I can’t afford too many more lazy days, so it’s time to start giving it all…
| Mon 28 Sept | 8km, Abs, Squats, 30 min cycle |
| Tue 29 Sept | 8km, Abs, Squats, Step exercises |
| Wed 30 Sept | 1 hour total trainer, Abs, 30 min cycle |
| Thur 1 Oct | 7km Tempo run, Abs |
| Fri 2 Oct | 40 min cycle |
| Sat 3 Oct | |
| Sun 4 Oct | 15km |
| Mileage | 45km |
| Running Load | 125 |
“Ability is what you’re capable of doing,
motivation determines what you do,
and attitude determines how well you do it.”
