Training plan??? What training plan???

“Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans” 

Since my last post, I have had to readjust my training quite significantly, due to a slight illness...I ran last Monday and Tuesday, but felt pretty terrible doing so, and so took the next two days off altogether, in order to regain some sort of condition back.  By Friday, I was feeling a good bit better, and so did my tempo run, without the 15 minute warm up and cool down, instead having 5 minutes of each, at either end of my tempo run.

Following the paces laid out by the McMillan pace calculator, based on my last 5k performance, I was going along very nicely and enjoyed the tempo run  -  in part, I think, due to the new "Brooks Racer ST5" running shoes I had bought that day...payday of course....

Apart from being a lovely striking orange colour, they weigh a lot less than my current training shoes, and less still with the orthodic insoles being removed.  It remains to be seen if this will have a negative effect on my joints and gait, or if the small level of support in the shoe is enough to ensure I can get through races without issue.

Certainly I felt faster, and my legs fatigued a lot less than using the normal trainers, due to the quite substantial drop in weight.

To compare, I did a similar speed tempo run on Sunday, again, on the treadmill, but with no minute break in between the 10 minutes and with the older, heavier trainers.  This felt a lot tougher, and was very short of breath at the end - a problem which also affected me on Monday night, as I did an easy 6 miles, averaging about 10.10 per mile - the latter stages had me struggling for breath, as if there was an issue with my lungs - perhaps the end of the infection that had been lingering since last week.

Anyhow, I have learnt that training plans are made as a rough guide only, and are best when they are adapted to the individual runner - based on goal, ability, current performance and current condition.  Therefore, after my 4 miles easy tonight, I may do 14/15 long run tomorrow, or maybe a 3x10 minute tempo run again.  Which one I choose simply depends on how I feel on the day.

This is an approach I have been using more and more this year, and is outlined in much more detail in the book I am currently reading, "How to run fast - 5k to the marathon".  As I am racing at pretty much all the distances between 5k and marathon before the end of May, this book, with its training advice and how to coach yourself best, by listening to your body, should be benificial to me in my goal of becoming a better runner.