It’s been a few weeks since I last posted. I’ve still been training, albeit not as much as a few months ago. I kind of made an unconscious conscious decision to ease back on the training for a few weeks before picking it up gradually this week with a mind to go full beans again nearer the end of June.
The decision to ease back on training was made easier for two reasons. Firstly the annual two month bout of hayfever has begun to hit me, which in the early days does little more than raise the heart rate a bit and make the breathing a bit more difficult, but will get progressively worse until the middle of July (Weather permitting).
Secondly after a club hill session a week last Tuesday (Where I put in one effort to gain a Strava segment 1st place, then cruised the rest of the reps, happy that the legs felt fairly good) I was off with my brother to the Isle of Man to experience my first taste of TT action. And that was an awesome experience, everything I expected it to be and a little bit more. A place where H&S has barely scratched the moral compass of an island that appears to embrace a bit of healthy danger.
Amongst the four portions of fish and chips; three pizzas, two cooked breakfast; several egg baps; and more pints of cider (most of it rubbish, sadly) than I care to remember, I did actually manage to squeeze three runs in. One was a sightseeing run taking in the promenade of Douglas and the fearsome (on a bike anyway) Bray Hill – where a Strava segment was attacked in moderate anger). The next run was a 10 1/2 mile affair where I found a relatively quiet country lane (Which turned out to be an A road, albeit not an A road like we know it on the mainland) and enjoyed the peace and the challenge of some tasty hills. The legs were feeling quite good, with just the pelvis nag to bother me.
The final run was on (Not so, if you don’t have a bike) Mad Sunday, where me and brother Joe began with a pretty quick assault back up Bray Hill (which Joe led me up to my chagrin) and then a 10k tour of the town, stopping for juice and nuts at Tesco (The joys of camping).
I returned home on Monday evening, feeling decidedly unhealthy and a fair few pounds heavier than when I left. A resolve to put in a good week of running was born out of necessity and it began with a good club intervals session, putting in 10 reasonable 800m efforts, the best of which was sub five minute miles and at approximately 2:25, was only seven seconds or so outside my 22 year old track PB.
Wednesday was a steady seven miles; Thursday a shorter than planned six because of work; Friday 13.4 miles and some of which off road looking ahead to next week’s Baslow Bootbash. This morning saw another six miles, the groin and pelvis a bit achy but otherwise clear signs that the injury ridden past few months were hopefully coming to an end and the post marathon malaise beginning to leave the body.
On the back of this I entered the Summer Solstice 10k, which I may or may not (Depending on work) be able to run in a couple of weeks. If I break 37 minutes there frankly I’ll be happy; it’ll show I’m better off than I was at this time last year. If not, I’ll just be happy that I am currently running mostly pain free.