(27-09-2009, 06:52 AM)Sweder Wrote: Admirable stuff EG; keep it going. It's all about momentum with us; get on a roll and feed off it.
Your current form reminds me of your pre-Boston resolution. If so SP will have to do more than hit a few tennis balls to meet your challenge.
I have no-mentum just now, managing resigned, sporadic toe-dips into the running pool. Another beckons this morning - another 're-start' wobble along the Brighton cliff-tops - but I refuse to beat myself up about it. In a feast-or-famine business I'm working fiendishly. Rather like a grizzly bear I'm piling on my winter fat, financially and, unfortunately, physically. Reports of my impending hibernation are, however, greatly exaggerated. Once I get back from Montreal at the end of October I will fully engage with the running process. A little late to catch you 10k-ers perhaps but - hopefully - time enough to toughen up for Almeria. Until then, it's not so much less-is-more, more as-and-when.
Your work schedule seems very hostile towards the settled running life. Not just the crazy hours and ever-changing time zones, but the social demands. And there's no tongue in cheek there, honest! I've had jobs in the past with a similar work-hard-play-hard ethic, and it's hard to imagine trying to fit a training routine around that sort of lifestyle. The one good thing is that the physical side of the job will help you maintain some sort of base fitness. Not the same as race fitness but enough to give you a springboard of sorts when the need for proper training arrives. I can't see how else you can do almost no running for seemingly weeks on end, then turn up for one of the Marina runs and knock off 8 or 10 hilly miles.
As for me, yes, this is very similar to the pre-Christmas months of last year, when I went from sub-zero self-confidence and physical condition to my regular weekend 12+ hilly long runs without too much trouble. It all went wrong on Boxing Day, when I strained that left calf for the first time. January and February were stop-go. March was better, but I never did regain the momentum and the confidence I had pre-Christmas. Interestingly, it wasn't injury that became the problem, but fear of injury. Fortunately, there were no more strains after February but I never felt I could push myself the way I had in the first months of the training.
But I learnt from that, I hope, and this time around will try to ensure that I get the stretching and warm-ups right, will keep the calf strapped up on longer runs, and have the occasional massage. Also, I'm pretty certain that I won't be doing a spring marathon now, in which case I won't have to push my luck too far with 18 and 20 milers. If I lower my sights and stay focused on halfs for a few months, it will do me good. The main danger injury-wise is too-much-too-soon syndrome, which is why, despite the SP jibes bravado, I have no aspirations for Crawley other than to jog the 10K at a steady pace. If I manage to enjoy the experience I'll feel ready to go up a gear for the 4 weeks up to Brighton, including doing the regular Saturday 5K park runs that have just started in Reading.
But thanks for the support everyone -- it's genuinely helpful.
