Heavy work month is over as of yesterday and so Geth and I emerged blinking onto the Moor this morning with the aim of ‘giving it a go’ and seeing where we are ahead of next week’s race. I did give it a go (as evidenced by my aching lungs this afternoon, standard in an asthmatic following a bit of a send* at parkrun), and ‘where I am’ is… well, it’s not where I want to be, but that can’t really be helped after five weeks of work and travel getting in the way of running.
General running reflection/update: the main thing I want to focus on after next week’s half is just getting the miles back into my legs. I’ve been on 12-hour workdays for the last few weeks (the joys of freelancing!) and haven’t been able to make time during the workweek for more than a streak saver mile, so other than that it’s just been easy parkruns and a ten-mile TMBR social most Sundays. In normal times (non-injured, normal workload) I do five or six ‘proper’ runs and one or two streak savers per week, as well as strength training and cross-training on the stationary bike. None of that has been happening recently, so I’ve felt a bit miserable and out of routine, and of course the training plan for next week’s half has gone out the window completely (and as such it’s no longer a goal race for me, just a day out). I long for six-plus-mile plods along sunny summer paths. Getting back to a more manageable work-life balance will allow that, and from experience, I know the speed will come back with the miles.
Volunteering next week pre-race!
*For the non-runners: ‘sending it’ means running as fast as you can. I wouldn’t quite describe today as a ‘full send’ (which will generally have you lying on your back afterwards like an elite on TV after a track race) but it was definitely a strong effort.