Going back to basics (Hannah)

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.