Friday, September 25, 2009

Early Warning!!

I have been right on the edge this week as I try to keep evil-spirits away before this race. I have had some minor chest congestion and a tickling throat along with some general lethargy at work; just not feeling right. I got through my track session on Wednesday ok. "Adequate" times but certainly not fast - I think I should have been 3-4sec quicker on each.

But today it became a real worry. I headed out this morning to do my 8km tempo run (4.22m/k pace) and was immediately in trouble. For the first km it was just working out the pain from this stupid "fascist foot" (aka plantar fasciitis) but I quickly realised it was worse than that. My breathing was laboured and my stride and footstrike choppy.

I picked it up for the second km, barely held on for number three and was going backwards by four. Needless to say by this stage I was 1.08min behind schedule and decided to call it quits, returning home by the 'short route' and feeling woeful.

At first I thought it was just low blood sugar but I did not pick up after breakfast and spent the rest of the day feeling a bit shaky - much like I do if I have a second cup of coffee in the morning! So right now I am a bit worried. I know I am suffering from something though I am not sure what. I just wish it would come full-on so I can deal with it and move on. Not much time to play with now.

I wonder how I'll go on Sunday with my planned 21km at marathon pace. Might be interesting!

Total run: 6.3km in 30.02min (4.45/4.32/4.37/4.42/4.43/5.10/-)

2 comments:

  1. Oh, darn, sorry to hear about this. It's funny, because I have been feeling lethargic in my last run, too, and now I am having a little cold. I think pain and illness happen during peak training. take good care: sleep, vit C, antioxidants, carbs and protein, and lets hope for the best.

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  2. Paul, That is disconcerting. You now face the challenge of maintaining you confidence, while facing uncertainly about how you will feel tomorrow. However, there are some things that are certain. First of these is that it is imperative to take things very easily while your body fights off what sounds like an upper respiratory infection. The second certain thing is that you have already built up about 99% of the fitness that your training plan was designed to achieve. The main goal of the final two weeks is sustaining the muscle ‘memory’ of race pace, and your confidence, while allowing your muscles recover from the preceding months of hard work. This goal can be achieved with a relatively small amount of running at race pace. So take it easy until the respiratory problem has settled and then do a modest amount of running, mainly at a pace near to race pace provide this is not stressful. However you do not need to do 21K at race pace. The main reason for doing 21 Km at race pace in the final weeks is to consolidate your confidence. Maybe it will be better to rely on your mental toughness to sustain your confidence than risking an exacerbation of a respiratory problem. Good luck.

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