Last thursday was the first training I had done for 3 weeks and brought 20 zero days of training to an end. The frustrations to someone who relies on repetition to achieve their goals was not really felt until I was starting to recover from a variety of cold like symptoms. For at least 10 days the idea of any training was ridiculous, but once the rib rattling cough had subsided, the tonsils no longer felt like a flame grilled barbecue and the blocked ears no longer hurt the temptation to start back in was acute. Thankfully a combination of work, family and self reflection meant that I did not rush back into training.
Several things were learnt.
Being ill was a great way to reflect upon how busy I am when combining all the roles of work, family and training. As I recovered there was just more time in the day. Trying to sometimes fit in the training can lead to stress when the time conflicts arise and I cannot manage the session I had planned, not having to do this meant I was more relaxed. This was balanced by my desire to be fit and to achieve my personal goals and to not lose the fitness gains I had banked through november and december. Further the acceptance of a new role at work means that the time pressures are ging to be even greater and this fed into my general review of the trainning plans for the year.
As I started to focus on returning to training I had to reconsider my goals and objectives. Clearly an ultramarathon of 32 miles was not going to be a good reintro to my training. A knock on means that training for the Jurassic Coastal Challenge was also off. Plans to improve running through a super base are gone. Since it is the current mantra of the NHS I thought I should practice what I preach which is "More with Less". So the challenge for the year has changed. It is no longer about setting all time best performance but is about finding out if I can do as well with less time.
Back in the pool and the saddle things felt OK although generally a bit weak. Running was rubbish! To get where I want to be the focus on training will be to look at maximising every sesson done ( a common mantra) but reducing the total number of sessions/hours done.
So the first goal is to regain my fitness level of 3 weeks ago and then hope to start building. It should be fun!
