I've not written anything for a while. This has largely been
down to an exceptionally busy time at work coupled with us pressing towards
both selling our flat and buying a house. I've not had much time to either
write or do things that it might be interesting to write about. But (although
we're still waiting to exchange on the house move) things have now calmed down
and we're both trying to rebuild. To do this we've gone right back to basics.
As soon as we returned from the Transalpine in September, I
started working in excess of 10 hours per day and was away with work at least a
day a week. When I was at home I was either doing some more work, doing admin
for the move or cleaning our flat for viewings. This wasn't really conducive to
the recovery I'd planned!
That said, I managed to retain a basic level of exercise as
my quickest commute to work involves a 5k run in each direction. And when I was
away I'd do my best to walk 25 mins to and from the station rather than taking
a taxi. With weekend runs as well, I was probably averaging 20-30 miles a week.
Gym (i.e. core work) essentially went out the window as I usually squeeze this
into my lunch break or do pilates when I get home from work.
I reached Christmas exhausted. I ran virtually every day but
struggled to keep up on an easy 10k run and just felt like I wanted to crawl
back into bed. On top of that my core felt soft and squidgy - it certainly
wasn't providing me with something strong to support me when I was running.
But I've been somewhere like this before and know that if I
go back to basics and am patient then I'll be back where I want to be fairly
quickly. So this is what I'm doing at the moment and I'm already starting to
see the benefits and really enjoy running again.
So what do I mean by "going back to basics"?
1. I'm forgetting about going fast and doing all my runs at
a nice easy pace while gradually building up the distance. And I walk the hills if I need to. In the past I'd
have done this with the aid of a heart rate monitor but I do it on feel now.
2. Rest days are really important to make sure I don't
gradually train myself into a hole. For me this means taking Mondays and
Fridays off from running so I get a get a 2 day and 3 day block of running each
week. On my rest days I'll probably walk about 10k and do a core or pilates
session.
3. I'm gradually building up basic body strength again
through TRX exercises, pilates and other core work. I've also started to bring
in some low weight / high rep leg weights and plyometric exercises too.
4. Lots of stretching and mobilisation exercises. Pilates
comes in again here as it helps keep my spine and hips nice and mobile.
5. Eating properly - lots of fruit, veg, nuts, pulses and
other whole foods.
6. Making sure I get plenty of sleep - for me this means at
least 8 hours per night, preferably a little bit more.
7. Not worrying - the fitness will come back. I've just got
to follow the process and give it time.
